Mumbai: In a development much on expected lines, the Eknath Shinde-led Maha Yuti government on Thursday appointed senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla as the Director General of Police - becoming the first lady officer to head the Maharashtra police.
Rashmi had in the past faced allegations related to phone-tapping against politicians.
Rashmi, an officer of the 1988-batch of the IPS, replaces Rajnish Seth, who superannuated on December 31, 2023, and was appointed as the Chairman of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC).
As of now, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar was officiating as acting DGP.
Rashmi was on central deputation and comes here after serving as Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal and Additional Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Before being posted on a central deputation, Rashmi had held several key posts in Maharashtra, including serving as the Commissioner of State Intelligence Department and then as Pune Police chief when Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister and headed the Home ministry.
Rashmi is due to retire on June 30, 2024, but she can get a stipulated two-year term.
Rashmi is the senior-most IPS officer in the state followed by Sandeep Bishnoi, the Managing Director of Maharashtra Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Ltd and Phansalkar.
There were allegations against her of tapping phones of Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut and now NCP MLC Eknath Khadse, who was earlier with BJP and had served as a minister.
During the MVA rule, Rashmi faced accusations in three FIRs related to the alleged illegal interception of calls of MVA leaders and the leak of SID data to Fadnavis, the then Leader of the Opposition.
She faced three FIRs - two of the FIRs were quashed by the Bombay High Court while the third was transferred to the CBI and stands closed after the closure report.
Born on August 15, 1965, she hails from Mumbai.
Her husband Uday Shukla, also from the IPS cadre passed away in in 2018, aged 58.