GAFOOR REAPPOINTED MAHARASHTR ACB CHIEF
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By T N Raghunatha
The Pioneer
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Mumbai - The Maharashtra Government on Friday appointed the
controversial IPS officer Hasan Gafoor as the new State Anti-
Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief, less than a year after it had removed
him from the Mumbai Police Commissioner's post in the wake of his
indictment by the RD Pradhan Committee that probed the 26/11 attacks.
The Ashok Chavan dispensation rehabilitated Gafoor by shifting him
from his current position as the Managing Director of Maharashtra
State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (MSPHWC) -- a relatively
insignificant post also referred to as Director General Police
(Housing) -- and making him the State ACB chief. The ACB chief's post
had been lying vacant ever since the State Government appointed
senior-most IPS officer AN Roy a month ago.
When The Pioneer reached out to him, Gafoor -- an officer from the
1974 IPS batch -- declined to comment on his new posting, except for
saying that he would have to seek the State Government's permission
before speaking to the media. He, however, confirmed that he would
take over as the new ACB chief on Monday.
Coming as it did with just 10 months to go for his retirement,
Friday's development must have come as a big relief for Gafoor -
given the public humiliation he had suffered after the RD Pradhan
Committee indicted him in June last year for having 'failed' to
provide 'visible and overt leadership' to his force during the 26/11
attacks. The committee had also blamed Gafoor for his failure to
follow the Standard Operating Practice (SOP) during the 26/11
attacks.
In its indictment of Gafoor, the Pradhan Committee had observed in
its report: "... we find that the CP Mumbai (Gafoor) did not exhibit
adequate initiative in handling the multi-prolonged attack. He
remained at one spot near the Trident Hotel throughout the
operations... Moreover, several senior officers told that in those
three days (November 26-29, 2008), the CP neither give any directions
nor inquired about the ongoing operations. We found that although the
CP was in touch with wireless and mobile on selective basis, several
officers felt that they did not get a feeling that they were part of
the team... We have come to the conclusion that there was absence of
visible and overt leadership on the part of Gafoor".
Following his indictment by the Pradhan Committee and posting as the
MSPHWC chief, Gafoor was involved in another unseemly controversy in
November last year, ahead of the first anniversary of the 26/11
attacks. He was pulled up by the State Government for his reported
comments in a media interview in which he had charged that four of
his senior IPS officer-colleagues had "refused to be on the ground
and take on the terrorists" during the 26/11 attacks.
The four officers who he alleged had failed in discharging their duty
during the 26/11 attacks were: Parambir Singh, the then Additional
Commissioner of Police, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), KL Prasad, then
Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order), Additional CP Crime Branch
Deven Bharti and K Venkateshan, then Additional CP (Mumbai South).
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Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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