The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Rakesh Maria was appointed Mumbai police commissioner late on Saturday, a fortnight after Satyapal Singh quit the force to join politics.
Maria, 56, a 1981 batch IPS officer, superseded seniors Vijay Kamble and Satish Mathur, who were in the fray after the state government on Friday night promoted Ahmed Javed to director general of police, taking him out of the race for the post of Mumbai's police commissioner.
Sources said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Home Minister R R Patil called up Maria on Saturday night and told him of his appointment. The Congress' choice for the Mumbai police commissioner's post was Javed Ahmed, and also Vijay Kamble, while the NCP's preference was Maria. However, the delay in IPS officers' transfer resulted in an opportunity to promote Ahmed.
Maria's selection is bound to raise eyebrows, as the Police Establishment Board had recommended the three candidates (Kamble, Mathur and Maria) based on seniority, and Maria was the junior-most in that list.
Sources close to Maria alleged that a few officers approached the government claiming that Maria's appointment as Mumbai's police commissioner could violate the Election Commission's directives of not posting officers in their home districts during the polls, even as the government deliberated on how to disregard Kamble, a candidate from the backward community, with the general elections approaching. Kamble, it is learnt, had expressed his desire to take voluntary retirement if he was not elevated to the key post.
Although junior among the three contenders, Maria's excellent record in crime detection and his knowledge of Mumbai and its underbelly stood him in good stead.
Aveteran in crime detection, Maria rose to fame in 1993, when he was posted as DCP (traffic) and was assigned investigations of the 1993 serial blasts case. The probe led to conviction of 98 of the 125 accused, with the Supreme Court upholding death sentence to one.
As Crime Branch chief, he investigated the 2003 serial blasts case and the 26/11 terror attacks. After he took over as the ATS chief, he probed the German Bakery blast case, the 2011 serial blasts and the Jungli Maharaj Road blast case.
Maria, 56, a 1981 batch IPS officer, superseded seniors Vijay Kamble and Satish Mathur, who were in the fray after the state government on Friday night promoted Ahmed Javed to director general of police, taking him out of the race for the post of Mumbai's police commissioner.
Sources said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Home Minister R R Patil called up Maria on Saturday night and told him of his appointment. The Congress' choice for the Mumbai police commissioner's post was Javed Ahmed, and also Vijay Kamble, while the NCP's preference was Maria. However, the delay in IPS officers' transfer resulted in an opportunity to promote Ahmed.
Maria's selection is bound to raise eyebrows, as the Police Establishment Board had recommended the three candidates (Kamble, Mathur and Maria) based on seniority, and Maria was the junior-most in that list.
Sources close to Maria alleged that a few officers approached the government claiming that Maria's appointment as Mumbai's police commissioner could violate the Election Commission's directives of not posting officers in their home districts during the polls, even as the government deliberated on how to disregard Kamble, a candidate from the backward community, with the general elections approaching. Kamble, it is learnt, had expressed his desire to take voluntary retirement if he was not elevated to the key post.
Although junior among the three contenders, Maria's excellent record in crime detection and his knowledge of Mumbai and its underbelly stood him in good stead.
Aveteran in crime detection, Maria rose to fame in 1993, when he was posted as DCP (traffic) and was assigned investigations of the 1993 serial blasts case. The probe led to conviction of 98 of the 125 accused, with the Supreme Court upholding death sentence to one.
As Crime Branch chief, he investigated the 2003 serial blasts case and the 26/11 terror attacks. After he took over as the ATS chief, he probed the German Bakery blast case, the 2011 serial blasts and the Jungli Maharaj Road blast case.
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