NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Bombay police commissioner may quit

Jake Khan

Bombay Police Commissioner of Ronald Hyacinth Mendonca quit in a huff, sources close to him said on Monday.

The commissioner is apparently upset that he is being reduced to a figurehead.

The home department, without his consent or knowledge, is apparently transferring police officials. The tradition so far has been to first transfer officials to the headquarters, after which they are posted to various branches or zones in accordance with their level of adaptability and the commissioner's confidence in them.

At a time, the home department has transferred up to 40 DCPs without informing the commissioner. Joint Commissioner Ulhas Joshi was transferred to Nagpur as IG though he had been transferred in from there just eight months ago. Joint Commissioner of Police Ajit Parasnis was moved to the State Road Transport Corporation as a vigilance commissioner.

Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal denied that the home department had anything to do with the transfers and that all of them were done for purely administrative reasons.

One former director general of police said, "All governments have been known to treat the police as their errand boys but the Congress is more irreverent and impudent than anyone I've known. They had shunted out Samra during their earlier regime in 1993 within eight months of his tenure; they did it with Inamdar; and now they are doing it with Mendonca."

Joint Commissioner (administration) T K Chowdhary, who Mendonca had moved out of police headquarters following differences with him, has been shifted right back. Upset by this move, Mendonca went on long leave in mid-January but eventually returned to office. For a while there was speculation that Mendonca might consider following in the footsteps of Arvind Inamdar, who resigned recently in protest against his transfer by the new government. While it is believed that he might not have left the force because he hoped Chowdhary would be moved out of the commissionerate, rumours now have it that Mendonca himself may be on his way out.

Sources say Mendonca now hopes to be shifted out of the Bombay commissionerate, which could prevent him from being further humiliated.

The police chief himself was not available for comment.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report