Deven Bharti has been appointed as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner, taking over the role as Vivek Phansalkar is set to retire today after serving the force for 35 years. Bharti, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, previously held the position of Special Commissioner of Mumbai Police starting in January 2023.
The post of Mumbai Police Commissioner, originally intended for the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) rank, has now been restored to its original level. While the post had been upgraded to the Director General (DG) rank in recent years, with officers such as Dattatray Padsalgikar, Subodh Jaiswal, and Param Bir Singh taking charge at this level, the state home department has issued an order downgrading the position back to the ADGP rank. An official confirmed that Bharti will assume the role at this level, marking a return to the previous structure.
Rakesh Maria was the last officer to serve as Mumbai Police Commissioner at the ADGP rank in 2014 before the post was upgraded. Since then, several senior officers have taken the helm, including Sanjay Barve, Hemant Nagrale, and Sanjay Pandey, who held the DG rank during their tenures.
Today marks the last day of Vivek Phansalkar as Mumbai Police Commissioner, and Bharti will take charge of mumbai police commissioner at 4pm today.
