Mumbai: Deven Bharti, an Indian Police Service officer who was part of the 26/11 investigation and known to go close to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, took over as the Mumbai Police Chief on Wednesday, when his predecessor Vivek Fansalkar ended after his three -year tenure. After 35 years of service, he retired with the force.
The 56 -year -old Bharti was serving as Special Commissioner of Police in Bal, a situation created in January 2023. He is a high profile officer and one of Mumbai’s longest serving Joint Commissioners (Law and Order). The 1994 batch officer has previously served as the head of the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) and the anti -Maharashtra terrorism squad.
Shortly after taking over, Bharti told the media persons, “My top priority is to ensure that the police reaches every person in the city. We will work to bridge the gap between the police and the common citizen. At the same time, we will be highly alert about cyber crime.” He said that he plans to integrate technology and artificial intelligence in the system. “We are not only chasing criminals – we are using technology to prevent crime before this happens.”
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Bharti was involved in the investigation into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, but also disputed the same. The then Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafur named four officers including Bharti in an interview Week Despite being present on the ground during the attack, for dyeing to respond to the situation.
In political corridors, it is well known that she is “it”Fadnivis’s blue -eyed boy“And his plum posting in Mumbai came between 2014 and 2019 during the last term of Fadnavis as Chief Minister, when he also held a home portfolio.
Bharti was appointed Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) in April 2015, and eventually set a record as the longest serving officer in the post. He was transferred by the Election Commission (EC) to the Maharashtra government in 2019 after a directive. No officer directly associated with the elections will be allowed to continue the posting in the present district, if he had completed three years in that district during the last four years.
But the Fadnavis government requested the EC to let Bharti live citing his huge experience. He was allowed to continue service to this post till the Lok Sabha elections that year, after which Fadnavis appointed him as the state ATS chief. However, after the Maha Vikas Aghdi government came to power, he was shifted to the Maharashtra State Security Corporation in 2020, which was seen as a “punishment” posting.
Since 2020, Bharti has been entangled in many controversies.
In 2020, former Mumbai top police retired Rakesh Maria In her autobiography, it was alleged that Bharti was “aware” about Sheena Bora’s disappearance, but she did not inform Maria about it. Bora was the daughter of the television channel NewsX Executive Indrani Mukherjee, who reportedly killed him. But Bharti dismissed the charge.
In 2021, Bharti was accused Pressure on a police officer Do not follow in case of passport fraud against the wife of the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. For the same, an FIR was lodged against him under the fraud, forgery and punitive provisions of the Indian Passport Act.
But in October 2022, when the Mahayati alliance once again came to power with Fadnavis as the Home Minister of Maharashtra, Bharti received a clear chit from the Mumbai Crime Branch.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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