Polls over, Maha govt reinstates controversial cop as DGP

Senior Indian Police Service officer Rashmi Shukla on Tuesday assumed the charge as the Maharashtra DGP, a day after she was reinstated to the post following the conclusion of the state assembly elections.

Shukla paid tributes to martyrs at the Commissioner of Police Office in south Mumbai, an official said.

The order reinstating Shukla as the Director General of Police was issued by the state home department on Monday evening.

Shukla was removed from the DGP's post on the Election Commission of India's directives ahead of the state assembly elections and sent on compulsory move after Congress complained about her.

Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the state's top police officer in the absence of Shukla. He was to hold the top post till the election process concluded.

With the completion of the electoral process and announcement of election results, the Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in force on Monday, the home department order said.

Consequently, the government has ended Shukla's period of forced leave and she has been asked to resume her role as DGP, it said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition retained power with a thumping majority in the assembly elections.

An IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Shukla is the first woman to hold the position of Maharashtra DGP.

Shukla had earlier served as the commissioner of the State Intelligence Department.

She was embroiled in a controversy during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's tenure when she was named as an accused in an alleged phone tapping case.

The Bombay high court in September 2023 quashed two FIRs registered against Shukla.