In an unexpected move, Rakesh Maria, who as Police Commissioner was the top-ranked police officer in Mumbai, has been promoted to Director General, Home Guards with immediate effect.
The timing of his promotion has raised eyebrows, coming as it does in the middle of the Mumbai police’s investigation in the Sheena Bora murder. Maria has personally directed the investigation in the case.
Maria ‘Kicked Upstairs’
The reasons for Maria’s ouster from the investigation could be many, but what’s got the media speculating is whether he was moved because of ‘unprofessional’ handling of the case.
Satyapal Singh, former Mumbai Police Commissioner told CNN-IBN that Maria could have been shunted aside for his perceived closeness to Peter Mukerjea.
Ahmed Javed Takes Over
Maria makes way for Ahmed Javed, who had been the other contender for the top job. Incidentally, Javed famously took leave of absence when he was denied the job in favour of Maria in February 2014.
Rakesh Maria’s Storied Career
In a career spanning over three decades, Maria has investigated a number of high profile cases, such as the 1993 blasts in Mumbai and 26/11.
He first started in 1981 as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Akola and in 2011 became eligible for the post of Director General of Police. On 15 February 2014, he reached the pinnacle of his career when appointed the Mumbai Police Commissioner. He is due to retire in December 2016.
An urbane and friendly face to the public, Rakesh Maria has been seen as a competent officer. His career has nevertheless been marked by controversy.
Murky Episodes from Rakesh Maria’s Career
The then Tehelka journalist Rana Ayub was the first to question in 2009 if there was something amiss in Rakesh Maria’s quest for gallantry awards and courting of the media.
Last year Vinita Kamte, the wife of slain policeman Ashok Kamte, who was killed in the 26/11 attacks, asked the Maharashtra government to reveal critical documents which could perhaps point towards Maria’s role and alleged negligence in carrying out his duties.
Could it be possible that filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma helped Maria in refurbishing his image? This film review by a senior journalist and RTI activist seems to indicate that it could well be true.
Investigative journalist Ashish Khetan maintains emphatically that Maria, while investigating the German Bakery blasts case in Pune had falsely implicated innocent Muslims. Khetan has approached the Bombay High Court with voluminous evidence in support of his claim. Maria, has completely denied all these charges.
Last year, TwoCircles.net carried an interview of lawyer Mehmood Pracha who echoed Khetan and made even more damning allegations against Maria.
Not surprisingly, Mumbai Police tried to coerce TwoCircles into taking down this interview. As of now, this matter has been hushed up.
(With inputs from Saurav Datta.)
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