A New Commissioner of Police has taken charge on Tuesday from previous Commissioner of Police Mr.Param Bir Singh. The new Commissioner of Police,Mr.Vivek Phansalkar is a 1989 batch officer from Nagpur. He was earlier posted as ADG, Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau. He had previously served as Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) with the Thane police in 2008. He said in a press meet that this is a big responsibility and comes with its own challenges. He said he will do his best and continue the good work done by his predecessors. Mr. Param Bir Singh was transferred as Additional Director General (Law and Order) in an order issued on Monday. The first posting of Mr. Phansalkar’s was as Additional Superintendent of Police, Akola. Before getting his first posting in a city Commissionerate as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Nashik he served as Superintendent of Police in Wardha and Parbhani . He has also served as Director of Vigilance for the Cotton Corporation of India. In Mumbai he served as Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) and Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) before being transferred as the chief of the Maharashta Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS). The ATS Chief position was taken over by Mr. Phansalkar from the late ADG Himanshu Roy. He spoke in Mr. Roy’s memory on the behalf of the Maharashta Police Force following his demise in May. He recalled about Mr. Roy’s meticulous nature, and how the process of handing over charge, which usually lasts for an hour, was stretched to around four hours for him as Mr. Roy patiently explained the ins and outs of the job. Over the last couple of years,The Thane police, has handled several important cases, including a Rs.2000 crore drug haul in which actress Mamta Kulkarni was named as an accused. A tele-calling racket where the accused were cheating US citizens by posing as officials of the Internal Revenue Service, and the arrest of Iqbal Kaskar, brother of wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, for extortion.
