6 shunted in major overhaul of Delhi Police Special Cell

NEW DELHI: In a major shake-up in Delhi Police Special Cell's New Delhi Range (NDR), which primarily deals with terror cases, the police brass has transferred six key inspectors and posted them to non-operational units.
Last week's move is being seen as the first step to the major changes that the 'elite unit' is expected to undergo in the coming months.There is a chance that the unit may be also renamed as Delhi ATS (anti-terror squad), like Mumbai, UP and other places, and could also be downsized, said a source. According to the source, the inspectors' transfer order comes ahead of the exit of the main ACP dealing with terror cases who is set to retire next month. "The head of the unit (of the rank of special commissioner) retires three months later, and this leaves only the existing additional commissioner behind, who may soon be transferred out of Delhi," the source added.
Currently, the Special Cell is being managed by DCPs Manishi Chandra, who is also the secretary to police commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Pratiksha Godara, who was posted in Haryana Police till some time ago. She had taken a transfer from AGMUT to Haryana cadre and was made the anti-terror unit DCP upon return. She is expected to be promoted to additional CP by Jan 2025.
The latest transfer orders, issued with concurrence of Chandra and Godara, include Rajeev Srivastava, Shiv Raj Rawat, Arvind Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Rakesh Singh Rana and Vinod Kumar.
Officials said the ACP of counter intelligence unit (CIU) Rahul Vikram and his inspectors are going to be placed in New Delhi Range after next month. Vikram has been asked to start visiting the NDR office in Lodhi Colony to gain "exposure" and be groomed.
Chandra is also likely to bring back some of the inspectors he had transferred out of the unit two years ago. Many from that list were made SHOs and are looking at a re-entry into the cell, sources said. The exercise will be completed before the retirement of commissioner Arora next July.
When contacted, senior cops said the transfers were routine. "Their replacements will be provided soon. The unit is handling a lot of drug-related cases of late and requires more manpower," a police officer said.
The Special cell was formed in the late 1980s to combat terrorism in the national capital. The unit was credited with solving the 2001 Parliament attack case within 36 hours. It had also wiped off the Indian Mujahideen modules that were behind the serial blasts in Delhi and other parts of the country.