Form of words:
New Delhi: The Special Cell of Delhi Police has three IPS officers as Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) for the first time in 31 years.
Since 1990, only DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Police Service) officers held the post of DCP in the Special Cell, which was established in 1986 to prevent, detect and investigate cases of terrorism, organized crime and other serious crimes. was established for. National Capital.
IPS officers Jasmeet Singh (2009 batch), Injit Pratap Singh (2011 batch) and Rajeev Ranjan (2010 batch) took over as Special Cell DCPs earlier this month. The Special Cell will now have six DCPs along with the three existing DANIPS officers- PS Kushwaha, Manishi Chandra and Sanjeev Yadav.
Speaking to ThePrint about these appointments, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said that IPS officers will bring new ideas. He said that in the present scenario where narco terrorism and organized crime are on the rise, this is a well thought out move.
“IPS officers have their own vision, new ideas and will surely get a new perspective given their wide experience. They are also very well trained, good leaders and man managers,” he said.
“In the current scenario, including developments in Afghanistan, terror and organized crime are on the rise and there was a need for a special unit for narco-terror and organized crime, which will be headed by these IPS officers,” he said.
Asthana said the existing DANIPS officers would continue in their posts and the change would only add “a new dimension to the special cell”.
Read also: Delhi riots a ‘conspiracy’, important to review cases, says police chief Rakesh Asthana
Why were only DANIPS officers in this position?
The Special Cell was a branch of the Special Branch of Delhi Police. It was created in the light of militancy in Punjab. According to senior officials, after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, a need was felt to set up a unit to deal with extremism and other terrorism-related cases in Punjab.
The Special Branch of Delhi Police had two divisions – SB-1 and SB-2. While SB-1 was responsible for VVIP security, intelligence gathering and registration of Pakistani nationals visiting India, SB-2 handled terror cases, conducted interception and worked closely with intelligence agencies. It is SB-2 which was named as Special Cell in 1986.
When asked why an IPS officer was not appointed as a DCP in the special cell for so long, a senior police officer said that it was a policy decision taken by the commissioner. However, the official said, a possible explanation is that an IPS officer stays in a posting for 2.5 to 3 years, which may be too little for a unit like a special cell.
Though there is no fixed tenure for an IPS or DANIPS officer, the latter gets the chance to spend more time in Delhi as they can be posted only in two other places – Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Throughout his career, he finds a hard posting in either of these two union territories, and spends the rest of his career in Delhi. Therefore, they stay longer in special units.
Meanwhile, an IPS officer is transferred and promoted more frequently.
For example, an IPS officer of AGMUT cadre can be transferred to any union territory as well as the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram.
An IPS officer can get five to six promotions in a 35-year career – from assistant commissioner to police commissioner – while for DANIPS, it is a maximum of four promotions from assistant commissioner to joint commissioner.
“The special cell was formed to deal with the cases of terrorism. It collects intelligence, builds assets, embeds them, is involved in a number of operations that last two to three years. So, if an IPS officer is a DCP, he has to leave the post after a certain number of years, which is a very short tenure. In order to maintain the stability and continuity of tenure, DANIPS officers have been appointed to this post,” the official said.
A second official said that the career progression of IPS officers does not allow them to “invest the number of years needed for this unit”.
“It is not that DANIPS officers are better or worse than IPS officers. It is just a question of developing the specialized skills required by this unit, such as intelligence gathering, raids and asset-building,” said another officer.
“It is not that IPS does not have skills, but to build these up an officer has to give time. For an IPS, as long as he develops those skills, becomes part of a network, it is time for him to join his next posting. Either they are transferred out of the unit or sent out of Delhi.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
subscribe our channel youtube And Wire
Why is the news media in crisis and how can you fix it?
India needs free, unbiased, non-hyphenated and questionable journalism even more as it is facing many crises.
But the news media itself is in trouble. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism are shrinking, yielding to raw prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the best young journalists, columnists and editors to work for it. Smart and thinking people like you will have to pay a price to maintain this quality of journalism. Whether you live in India or abroad, you can Here.