The state government is terming the sudden transfer an 'administrative move'
Dhananjay Kamlakar
The state government on Thursday shunted Dhananjay Kamlakar, joint commissioner of police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and has given him the responsibility of coastal security of the state, considered as a non-prestigious post.
Dhananjay Kamlakar
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Though the government is terming the sudden transfer of the senior officer an 'administrative move', sources claimed that the 1992-batch IPS officer has been 'punished' after his son's name cropped up in a multi-crore land grabbing matter.
Kamlakar will be replaced by Pravin Salunkhe, a 1995-batch IPS officer. Salunkhe was earlier holding the charge of special inspector general of police (coastal security and special security) where Kamlakar has been sent now.
Land grab
Recently, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) reportedly accused Kamlakar's son, Rohit, of 'unlawfully' usurping a 76,400-sq-m land worth over R200 crore in Pune's Karegaon, in connivance with four other persons. The land belongs to MIDC.
Sources in the state government said that when a minister in the government was not spared amid corruption charges then there is no question of the chief minister — who also holds the portfolio of the home department — going soft on a senior police officer, whose son's name has cropped up in a major controversy. Hence, Kamlakar supposedly faced the CM's wrath.
Earlier controversy
This is not the first time Kamlakar has found himself in the middle of a controversy. He had earlier faced the wrath of many ministers and senior officers from the Centre and state when he had allegedly foiled the intelligence agency's operation in Delhi in 2012 in which they were nurturing Chhota Rajan's trusted aid Vicky Malhotra to eliminate fugitive Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan. Back then, Kamlakar was DCP (detection) in the Crime Branch.
Kamlakar was the first chief of Mumbai's EOW after it was separated from the Crime Branch in 2014. Earlier, a DIG-rank officer used to head EOW under the joint commissioner of police (crime).
New chief
The new EOW chief Pravin Salunkhe was the additional commissioner of police (central region) in Mumbai. After this, he was sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation on deputation. From there, he was promoted to IG rank and was given the responsibility of Nashik range in Maharashtra.
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