Senior IPS officer Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal on Thursday took over as Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai City Police. A.K. Viswanathan, who was Commissioner of Police for more than three years, was shifted and posted as Additional Director General of Police, Operations.
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Mr. Aggarwal assumed charge at the Police Commissioner's office, Vepery, in the presence of senior police officers. He is the 106th police commissioner of the city since 1856.
Talking to reporters here, Mr. Aggarwal said his focus area would be to strengthen the public grievances system and to deliver quick redressal. He said he would introduce video-call facilities for public to redress their grievances. Members of the public can directly contact him with their problems, he said.
Mr. Aggarwal said under the ‘Third Eye Project’ , CCTVs have been installed already, and are useful in crime prevention and detection. Incidents of chain snatching/mobile snatching have come down considerably due to CCTVs. Whatever scheme is available for crime prevention and detection will be utilised for the welfare of the public, he added. He also said he would work for welfare of police personnel in the city police which is 25,000 strong.
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Mr. Aggarwal said the Director General of Police, Training, has suggested a training programme for personnel who are on COVID-19 duty to relieve their stress. From July 10, police personnel from the city police will be given training in batches.
The Commissioner also said there is a system for online complaints through email and more awareness would be created on this. He would take more efforts to ensure quick disposal of online complaints.
Stating that cyber crimes are increasing, Mr. Aggarwal said standard operating procedures would be released to crack the cases without delay and the assistance of IT firms would be sought.
Mr. Aggarwal was earlier Additional Director General of Police, Operations and Additional Commissioner of Police, South Chennai. He has also held the posts Commissioner of Police in Madurai and Tirunelveli. Mr. Aggarwal has also headed the Special Investigation Division of the Crime Branch CID formed to investigate a series of communal murders in which leaders of Hindu organisations were targeted and murdered a few years ago. All the cases were investigated, the accused arrested and charges-sheeted.
Mr. Aggarwal has also served as Deputy Inspector-General of Police in the Central Bureau of Investigation, Chandigarh, for about seven years.
Mr. Aggarwal was given the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Excellence in Public Service on August 15, 2018. He is also the recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty.