Mumbai's long history of evicting its police commissioners disgracefully
Rakesh Maria is not the first CP to have been kicked upstairs as a result of politicking. Mumbai's hot seat has had its share of evictees, and several have survived the ignominy to go on to be Maharashtra DGs.
1. Rakesh Maria, 2015: Supposedly for the 24x7 media gaze on the Sheena Bora murder, but also because he was an appointee of the previous government and CM Devendra Fadnavis wanted his own men in the hot seat.
2. Hasan Gafoor, 2009: Shunted to Police Housing Corporation post his failure to take charge during the 26/11 attacks. A humiliated Gafoor maintained he and his force had done their best but died of a cardiac arrest in 2012.
3. RS Sharma, 2003: The worst of Bombay's police commissioners, he disappeared from active duty after being questioned by SIT in the stamp paper scam. He was removed from his position on November 18 that year and posted as ADG (Admin). He was later arrested for complicity. Certainly not company for Maria to keep, even if only in a listicle.
4. PS Pasricha, 2003: Pasricha succeeded Sharma. Four months in to his tenure, he was informed by police wireless on his way to office that he had been promoted and there was no need for him to report to work. The Mumbai Police reportedly had some difficulty in convincing him to vacate the chair, say those who recall that time.
5. SC Malhotra, 1996: A stud farm owner more interested in the good life, and a colourful personality, a rioting episode at Chembur was used as an excuse to quietly shunt the disinterested officer into a DG of Anti Corruption Bureau posting. He went on to be Maharashtra state DG for three successful years however.
6. SK Bapat, 1991: The highly respected police commissioner of Bombay during the dreadful 1992 riots, he was made scapegoat by ruling politicians for the state of the city and was shunted out as a member of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission.