Exclusive: Anurag Kumar's Rise Pushes Delhi Police Top Brass To The Brink of Exit

The elevation of Anurag Kumar as Delhi Police Commissioner last week has set in motion one of the most consequential reshuffles at the top echelons of Delhi Police.  With a junior officer now sitting at the apex, the structural awkwardness is impossible to ignore.  First in line is Robin Hibu, who is one batch senior to Kumar, and is likely to be shifted to Civil Defence and Home Guards after the retirement of Virender Chahal in the next three months.

Second in line, Special CP Rajesh Khurana, batchmate to Kumar, is most likely to be shifted to Goa as DGP, with the incumbent Goa DGP expected to be recalled to Delhi in return.  Third Special CP (Law & Order), Neeraj Thakur.  Another 1994-batch officer is facing the same seniority squeeze.  Top sources said that Thakur is most likely to move to Puducherry as DGP, while incumbent DGP Shalini Singh completes her two-year tenure and returns to Delhi.  One more batchmate of Kumar recently empanelled to DG rank in centre Anand Mohan, already eased out of the mainstream, is currently overseeing Prisons. 

Interestingly,  Special CP  Economic Offences Wing(EOW) Garima Bhatnagar(1994 batch), according to top sources, is considered junior to Kumar in inter-se seniority; she is expected to remain in Delhi for now.  Top sources indicate she may continue at EOW before transitioning to BPR&D as ADG, likely after the retirement of Ravi Joseph Loku in August.  This isn't without precedent in the AGMUT cadre's recent history.  When Sanjay Arora was Delhi Police Commissioner, his batchmate Sundari Nanda served under him for about six months before moving to the MHA as Special Secretary (Security). The near-wholesale displacement of the 1993–1994 vintage officers is unprecedented for Delhi Police.

Top sources said that, by contrast, when Amulya Patnaik became Commissioner himself, bypassing two seniors and one batchmate, the resulting churn was far more contained.  The officers affected then were a smaller circle: Ajay Kashyap (1985 batch), Dharmendra Kumar (1984 batch), and Deepak Mishra (1984 batch). The current reshuffle, driven by the 1994 batch's unexpected and somewhat premature entry into contention, is playing out with far greater intensity and across the cadre spectrum.