New Delhi: Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar Tuesday appointed 1996-batch IPS officer Ajay Chaudhary as the city’s new traffic chief as part of an overhaul of the force’s senior leadership.Forty-three officers were reshuffled, restructuring core divisions including crime, traffic, special branch, vigilance, intelligence, operations and district policing.Outgoing traffic chief Manish Agrawal has been posted as special CP of the protective security division, swapping roles with Chaudhary.Special CP Garima Bhatnagar will take on additional charge as managing director of Delhi Police Housing Corporation Limited, while David Lalrinsanga becomes special CP, operations, with additional charge of SPUNER (Special Police Unit for North East Region).Special CP Atul Katiyar has been moved to the welfare and legal division, and Vivek Kishore, on transfer from Arunachal Pradesh, has been posted as special CP of Special Police Unit for Women and Children, and licensing.Key joint CP appointments include Suman Goyal, who will take over the western range, Milind Mahadeo Dumbere assigned to the eastern range, Nupur Prasad, who will be shifted to the New Delhi range, and Deepak Purohit, who will move to licensing.At the additional CP level, Monica Bharadwaj has moved to crime, Varsha Sharma to the Economic Offences Wing, Pratiksha Godara to traffic (HQ), and Jitendra Kumar Meena to vigilance.Niharika Bhatt has been elevated to DCP North District, while Vineet Kumar will take charge as DCP South East District.Specialised DCP postings include Raja Banthia to technology and PI, Hemant Tewari to special branch, and Gaurav Tyagi to the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO).Sachin Singhal and Shweta Chauhan have been assigned as DCP, traffic.The new police chief is keen on addressing the city’s worsening traffic situation, and Chaudhary will have his task cut out. Among those moved, DCP Hemant Tewari played a key role in improving law and order during his tenure as DCP South East. He also led the investigation into several high-profile cases, including the murder of an IRS officer’s daughter, the Govindpuri arson case and the murder of a domestic worker allegedly by a dermatologist. Tewari has been tasked with strengthening intelligence gathering.Sanjay Bhatia, a veteran police officer, has been transferred to IFSO. Bhatia has served in several districts and specialised units, where he solved important cases.
