NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra government has appointed senior IPS officer Deven Bharti, a 1994-batch officer, as the new Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Bharti is known for handling several high-profile investigations, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Deven Bharti will formally assume charge as Mumbai’s police commissioner later this evening, succeeding Vivek Phansalkar, who retires after a distinguished 35-year career in the force.
Though the state home department has confirmed Bharti’s appointment, the post has been downgraded to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), an official said.
While the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s role is typically of ADGP rank, it had been temporarily upgraded to Director General (DG) level for some past appointments.
Bharti, a 1994-batch IPS officer, currently serves as Mumbai’s Special Commissioner.

He was considered one of the most powerful IPS officers in Mumbai during Devendra Fadnavis’s tenure as Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019, when he held the position of Joint Commissioner (Law and Order). Following his promotion to Additional Director General, Bharti was posted as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
However, under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, he was moved to what is seen as a relatively low-profile role — Joint Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation.
On December 13, 2022, Bharti was replaced by then Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Rajvardhan. Since then, he had been awaiting a key posting, alongside other senior officers such as ATS chief Vinit Agarwal, Thane Police Commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh, and ACB Additional DG Prabhat Kumar.
A reshuffle in top IPS positions had been expected ever since Fadnavis assumed charge of the home department last year. Sources said there was a proposal to bring IPS officer Rashmi Shukla back as Mumbai Police Commissioner or to appoint her as Director General, Anti-Corruption — a post vacant since Rajneesh Seth was elevated to DGP in December. Bharti was also in consideration for the post of Special Commissioner.
However, Shukla’s potential return was stalled after a Pune court rejected the police’s application to close the phone-tapping case against her. With that plan shelved, the government cleared the way for Bharti’s elevation to Mumbai’s top police post.
(With agencies inputs)