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In a dramatic reshuffle that came in the middle of investigations of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria was on Tuesday transferred on promotion as Director General, Homeguards, considered a side posting, raising serious questions of political interference.

Ahmed Javed, presently posted as Director General, Homeguards and Commandant, Civil Defence, was appointed as the new Mumbai police commissioner. Mr. Javed and Mr. Maria took charge of their respective new postings immediately.

Ahmed Javed (Right) took charge of his new posting immediately. Photo: Special Arrangement

The dramatic transfer orders came this afternoon even as Mr. Maria is leading the investigations into the Sheena Bora murder case and took the police force by surprise. Mr. Maria had emerged from an eight-hour long interrogation of Peter Mukherjea late on Monday night focusing specifically on the complex financial dealings of the media moghul, and his wife Indrani Mukherjea, who was arrested on charges of murdering her own 24-year-old daughter, Sheena in 2012.

Though Mr. Maria’s tenure as the Mumbai Police Commissioner was about to end, the transfer order in the middle of an intriguing murder investigation created an impression of political interference. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holds the charge for Home Affairs.

Additional Chief Secretary, Home KP Bakshi denied the speculation, and claimed that the transfer was ordered keeping in mind the heavy security deployment required for the upcoming Ganesh festival starting on Sept 17, and to give adequate time to the new incumbent to plan the security deployment.

In February 2014, despite the claims of two senior IPS officers, Vijay Kamble (1979 batch) and Mr. Ahmed Javed (1980 batch) for the coveted post of Mumbai police chief, Mr. Maria, who belongs to the 1981-batch of the Indian Police Service, was appointed as the commissioner during the Congress-NCP regime.