Who is Deven Bharti? Mumbai’s new Police Commissioner

Throughout his career, Bharti has been involved in investigating several high-profile and sensitive cases. He played a key role in the probe into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the murder of Mid-Day’s senior crime editor J Dey. (Deven Bharti. File pic)

Deven Bharti, a 1994-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, has been appointed as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner, taking over from Vivek Phansalkar, who retires today. Bharti will assume charge at 4pm, with the post now restored to its original rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), as confirmed by the state home department.

who is Bharti?

Bharti's career spans nearly three decades, with significant time served in Mumbai. He began his policing journey in the Naxal-affected region of Gadchiroli, where he was posted first as Additional Superintendent of Police, and later as Superintendent. He subsequently held the SP post in Amravati and Akola before moving on deputation to the Intelligence Bureau from 1998 to 2003.

He got his first posting in Mumbai as Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Branch-II in 2003. He was later promoted to DCP (Detection) in the Crime Branch, a key position in the city's crime fighting arm. Over the years, successive governments have entrusted Bharti with top-level positions, recognising his deep familiarity with Mumbai's law and order challenges.

He has held posts including Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Inspector General, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), a tenure lasting four years from 2015 to 2019, one of the longest in the role. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was briefly transferred to the Economic Offences Wing as Joint Commissioner. Following this, he served as the chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad and later as the Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Throughout his career, Bharti has been involved in investigating several high-profile and sensitive cases. He played a key role in the probe into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the murder of Mid-Day's senior crime editor J Dey. He was also among the officers who oversaw the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist from 26/11. His efforts in dismantling the Indian Mujahideen's operations in Maharashtra have been widely noted.

While the post had been upgraded to Director General (DG) rank in recent years, the latest appointment marks a return to the ADGP level, a position last held in 2014 by Rakesh Maria before being elevated. Since then, Mumbai's police commissioners have included Ahmed Javed, Dattatray Padsalgikar, Subodh Jaiswal, Sanjay Barve, Param Bir Singh, Hemant Nagrale, Sanjay Pandey, and most recently, Vivek Phansalkar, all of DG rank.

Before today's appointment, Bharti was serving as Mumbai's first Special Commissioner of Police since January 2023.