PANAJI
Superintendent of Police Sunita Sawant has been given charge of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC), nearly three months after she was abruptly moved out of the South Goa district and posted to Police Headquarters through a wireless message.
She replaces SP Tikam Singh Verma in the ANC, who has held dual charge since taking over South Goa from Sawant -- also holding the charge of Sports Unit in the department.
In a parallel development, the Goa Police transferred 50 police inspectors (PIs) in what has been termed a routine reshuffle.
Earlier this week, Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Nelson Albuquerque instructed the duty masters to report at 11 am on Thursday with a list of officers who had been transferred in previous years and officially relieved in accordance with orders.
Sources confirmed that the directive to relieve personnel who had not yet moved to their new postings has largely been followed. However, officials have maintained silence on Director General of Police Alok Kumar’s recent directions that transferred personnel would only be eligible to draw salaries from their new postings.
The issue came to a head last week when Goa Police issued a sweeping order relieving all officers and personnel transferred between 2020 and 2025. This followed revelations during a high-level meeting at Police Headquarters on April 4 that hundreds of officers had failed to comply with previous instructions, despite a 48-hour deadline that ended on April 6.
“The situation was creating operational problems... Several police stations were functioning with fewer staff strength because personnel either refused to join their new posts or were not relieved,” sources said. An estimated 850 officers have been transferred in the past five years.
