City’s first woman senior inspector, sidelined

When Anita Chavan joined Santa Cruz police station in March, she was the first woman to become a senior inspector in the history of the Mumbai police. But four-and-a-half months later, she was unceremoniously shunted out, relegated to bandobast duty in Nashik for a term of one year.
A disappointed Chavan went on leave and a week ago Police Commissioner R S Sharma reversed the decision and transferred her to the crime cell.Only, this time she has no branch to report to.
"That was another first for me. No senior inspector has been assigned bandobast duty for as long as a year. Other senior inspectors have done it for a month. Why was I picked for a one-year assignment?" asks Chavan, an arts graduate who joined the force as a sub-inspector in 1978.
"If I was the first woman in the post and this was hailed as a good beginning, how can I be transferred without any fault of mine? Four-and-a-half months is not enough to judge an officer’s work. Besides, my tenure at Santa Cruz was without any controversy," says Chavan.
She, however, has a good word for Sharma. "It was very difficult to leave my family and go to Nashik. So I met Sharma and told him my problem. After that he gave me a posting in the crime cell, though no branch has been assigned to me as yet," says Chavan, who has an ailing mother-in-law, two college-going daughters and a son in Std V to support.
According to a senior police official, Chavan was transferred because of "non-performance and showing bias against certain communities". The complaints make Chavan livid: "During my stint at Santa Cruz, I have the record for detecting several crimes. I wonder why I was transferred so soon. Normally, a senior inspector heads a police station for three years," she says.
Says Sharma, "I assessed her work at Santa Cruz and decided to shift her. Though normally a senior inspector stays in the post for three years, the commissioner can shift the official if he is not satisfied with the work," he says.
When asked about Chavan’s alleged bias against certain communities, Sharma admits that he received some complaints but refused to give details.
Sharma says that it was actually the Director General of Police who wanted Chavan to go to Nashik. "I requested him to transfer her to the crime department. It is now up to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr Satya Pal Singh to assign her a branch," he says.
Singh says that he has issued orders asking her to join the Economic Offences Wing. "Maybe the official who was to carry out my order was ill, which is why it could not be delivered to Chavan in time," he says.