Mumbai: Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve will finally retire on February 29, as the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has not sent a letter to the Centre on his extension. The government should have dashed off a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training latest by February 26, but it has not been done.
The search is on for Barve's successor. The front runners are Director General Anti Corruption Bureau Param Bir Sangh, DG (technical) Hemant Nagrale, state intelligence department commissioner Rashmi Shukla, state security corporation managing director D Kanakratnam and additional director general Rajnish Sheth.
Barve, who was appointed as the city police commissioner in February 2019, was given three months extension after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power in November last year.
An MVA minister, who is privy to these developments, told FPJ, "Barve will retire on February 29. There is no further extension for him. Although he had evinced interest for another extension, the government has not sent a communication to the Centre by February 26 in this regard.''
The MVA ruling partners will discuss the names under consideration for Barve's successor and a final decision will be taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray by Friday.
Barve hogged headlines after a section of media reported that a firm owned by his son and wife was awarded a contract of digitisation of the city police's official records by the previous BJP government in Maharashtra.
The project of police records' digitisation was awarded to CrispQ Information Technologies Pvt Ltd for five years by the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government before the state assembly polls were held in October last year.
The company is owned by Barve's son Sumukh and his wife Sharmila. However, Barve clarified that the firm had offered its services free of cost and there was no question of any financial gains to it. Barve’s office had received information on October 7, 2019, regarding allotment of work to the company.
Former CM Devendra Fadnavis had also said that the company had offered its service 'pro bono.'
