Top crime branch cop stripped of powers after colleagues complain

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) KMM Prasanna has been stripped of his powers by Police Commissioner Dattatrey Padsalgikar following a spate of complaints, ranging from being rude towards his colleagues, to not reporting to work on time. Crime Branch sources said among the complainants were several women officers, who have accused Prasanna of 'harassment' and showing 'condescending attitude'.
Mirror has learnt that a fortnight ago, Prasanna, a 2000-batch Indian Police Service officer, was summoned to the Police Commissionerate and told he would now only look after the Crime Branch's administrative operations. "The meeting was also attended by Sanjay Saxena, the joint commissioner of Crime Branch, and it was made clear to Prasanna that he was to no longer assign any work to his subordinates. Even the three deputy commissioners who reported to him are now directly taking orders from Saxena," a Crime Branch source said.
While Saxena and Prasanna did not respond to several calls and messages from this newspaper, Padsalgikar said he was not aware of any such disciplinary action. But Mirror has learned Prasanna had been on his bosses' radar for a while.
"A few weeks ago, the police commissioner had called for a review meeting in Prasanna's chambers, for which he turned up more than halfan-hour late. There have been multiple complaints about his rude behaviour towards his subordinates, his closeness to a couple of women officers, and his nexus of informers. The bosses felt that they needed to crack the whip to ensure discipline was maintained in the force," a Crime Branch source said.
Afew officers who worked closely with Prasanna -promoted as the Crime Branch additional commissioner in 2014 - said there was a sudden change in his behaviour. An officer who didn't want to be identified said, "He had developed a nexus of informers who knew about the movement of drug peddlers in the city. There were allegations that these men were being prevented from passing on information to the Anti-Narcotics Bureau."
Another officer said Prasanna's rude behaviour towards his colleagues often spilled out of his chambers and on to public forums. "He once berated a junior officer in front of several colleagues, and it was noticed by his bosses, who had told him to calm down. Over the last few months, he would snap at his subordinates over smallest of matters," the officer said.
Mirror has learned that it's only a matter of time before Prasanna is shunted out of the Crime Branch. "It is unlikely that the Home Department will get involved, as such matters are left to the police commissioner's discretion," a senior officer said.
The Mumbai Police spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rashmi Karandikar, did not deny the matter but said it would be "inappropriate" on her part to comment.