Sadanand Vasant Date, a decorated officer of the 26/11 terror attacks, was appointed as the new Director General of Maharashtra Police (DGP), on Wednesday. He will have a fixed tenure of two years.
A 1990 batch IPS officer, known to be soft-spoken yet a tough taskmaster, will succeed Rashmi Shukla, who retires on January 3.
Date's appointment comes after his early repatriation from the central deputation, where he was leading the National Investigation Agency (NIA). "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for premature repatriation of Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Sadanand Vasant Date, a 1990-batch Indian Police Service officer to his parent cadre Maharashtra with immediate effect," a notification from the home ministry read.
Date and 26/11 Mumbai attacks
Date was serving as the Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) in 2008 when the the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
He led a police team that cornered Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail on the rooftop of Cama Hospital. Despite sustaining severe injuries from grenade shrapnel, he kept engaging the terrorists. He rescued a lift operator held hostage by the two militants.
For his bravery, he was later awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry.
Even now, Date still carries metallic shrapnel from that night, particularly a piece near his eye. He refers to them as 'medals' from a war zone, rather than injuries.
He brings a wealth of experience across state and central agencies as he has served in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the first Commissioner of Police for Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar. Date also served the Mumbai Police as Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) and Crime.
He has also served as DIG in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and IG (Operations) in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Date has a doctorate in Economic Offences from Pune University.
With PTI inputs
