The Maharashtra government yesterday named senior Indian Police Service officer Dattatray Padsalgikar as the new police commissioner of Mumbai.
He will succeed Ahmad Javed, who has been appointed as India’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Additional Chief Secretary (home) K P Bakshi said.
Ahmad relinquished charge on Saturday and was given a ceremonial sendoff. Padsalgikar will assume office today.
The Ministry of External Affairs had announced on December 11 the appointment of Javed as the next envoy to Saudi Arabia, a key posting in the Arab world, and he is expected to take charge there shortly.
Javed is the second former Mumbai police commissioner to get a prestigious diplomatic posting after J F Rebeiro who was Indian ambassador to Romania between 1989 and 1993.
An IPS officer of the 1982 cadre, Padsalgikar was on deputation to the central government in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for the past few years, but was repatriated earlier this month in preparation for his new charge.
Padsalgikar will be the first Maharashtrian police chief of Mumbai after eight years, after D N Jadhav who held the office between March 2007 and February 2008. 
State home department officials also made another crucial announcement of downgrading the post of Mumbai police commissioner to the rank of additional director general of police (ADG). In October last year, the state government had promoted and transferred former commissioner Rakesh Maria and announced that the post of the commissioner will be of the rank of director general (DG). 
Javed being a DG level officer was then appointed as the new commissioner of Mumbai police for a period of less than four months. 
Enjoying the image of an honest and upright officer, Padsalgikar has vast experience in terror and counter-terror operations and had been playing a critical role in gathering evidence against the Pakistani non-state actors who directed the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008.
He helped procure the telephonic intercepts from the US between the terrorists and their handlers which effectively nailed them in the case, officials said.
In the past, Padsalgikar served as a deputy police commissioner handling various assignments and also in the economic offences wing before he was sent on deputation to the Centre.
After his repatriation to Maharashtra, he was given the rank of additional director-general of police, but was not given any posting until being appointed the commissioner.