DGP protests shunting out of senior policemen

HYDERABAD: Distraught over the recent police transfers which were done behind his back, director-general of police Swaranjit Sen has shot off a protest letter to the chief secretary. Sen has contended that "keeping the head of the police in the dark would send a wrong signal in the uniformed service."
The DGP also pointed out that nothing like this has ever happened in the annals of the AP police.Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had on Sept. 27 ordered the transfer of Hyderabad police commissioner Dinesh Reddy, inspector-general of police (Hyderabad range) R P Meena, and five other IPS officers, without letting Sen get a whiff of the matter.
In fact, the DGP had met with the CM just half an hour after the transfer orders were issued. All this after new commissioner Ajit Mohanty had been briefed about his new assignment hours before the change.
Reliable sources suggest that Sen had touched base with the CM on Sept. 28, a day after the transfer, and pleaded for the reinstatement of Dinesh Reddy and Meena in their old positions. But the CM insisted that both Dinesh and Meena join their new posts immediately.
Sen's protest letter was sent on Sept. 29 to the then chief secretary Mohan Kanda, who immediately passed it on to the chief minister. Rajasekhara Reddy read the letter and is believed to have expressed unhappiness over the way Sen chose to dash off a missive.
When contacted by The Times of India, DGP Sen said the letter was not meant for 'public viewing' and that he had only expressed his 'feelings' to the chief secretary. He refused to be drawn into the matter.
Analysts pointed out that keeping the top cops out of the loop on police transfers, though not desirable, has become routine in many states. From time to time, top cops in many states have protested to their political bosses about transfers effected behind their back, but to no avail.