IPS Hemant Nagrale appointed as Maharashtra DGP; All you need to know about him

Director General of Police (Legal and Technical) Hemant Nagrale will hold additional charge as DGP replacing Subodh Jaiswal, who was appointed as Director-General of Central Industrial Security Force on December 30, 2021.

On January 7, the Maharashtra government relieved Subodh Jaiswal from the post of DGP of the state police.

Hemant Nagarale is a 1987 batch IPS officer. The IPS officer pursued his schooling till the sixth standard from ZP School in Bhadrawati, located in Chandrapur district, and later moved to Nagpur where he completed his schooling from Patwardhan High School. Nagrale holds a degree of BE (Mechanical) from VRCE Nagpur (now VNIT) and is post-graduate in Master of Finance Management (JBIMS, Mumbai).

He was appointed as DCP in Solapur from 1992 to1994 and was instrumental in the creation of new Commissionerate of Solapur. His controlling of law and order situation in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid Communal riots in Solapur city in 1992 was much appreciated. 

During his tenure as SP, Ratnagiri (1994-1996), he handled the land acquisition matter related to Dabhol Power Corporation. He investigated the MPSC paper leakage case which was spread over to several parts of Maharashtra when he was the SP, CID, Crime (1996-1998). 

In addition, Hemant Nagrale has provided his services to the CBI (March 1998- September 2002) and was posted as SP, Banking and Fraud, CBI, Mumbai, and later as DIG, CBI, New Delhi.

Nagarale has 19 months left to serve before his retirement. Hemant Nagarale took over as Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner in 2016. He was then transferred to Nagpur in 2018. When Hemant Nagarale was the Police Commissioner of Navi Mumbai, he was lauded for solving the Bank of Baroda robbery in Vashi in just two days.

Besides that, good law enforcement at under-17 football World Cup, pop singer Justin Bieber's program earned him a lot of appraises. Police sports competitions held during his time were also popular in the state. He was also at the forefront of suspending, transferring and transferring officers and employees who failed to perform their duties.

On 26 November 2008, when Mumbai faced a deadly terror attack, Hemant Nagrale — even though on deputation to MSEDCL — ventured out of his residence and helped in shifting the injured and dead to nearby hospitals. With the help of the staff and policemen, Nagrale rescued hundreds of people trapped inside the shopping plaza of Hotel Taj.

During his tenure at the CBI, he supervised and completed the investigations of several cases including the ₹130 crores Bank of India case of Ketan Parekh Scam, Madhaopura Co-op Bank Scam (₹1,800 crores) and the Harshad Mehta scam case in 2001 (₹400 crores).

Hemant Nagrale has received several awards like the President’s Police Medal, Vishesh Seva Padak and Antarik Suraksha Padak for his service over the years. As an IPS officer, his first assignment (1989-92) was in the Naxalite-affected Chandrapur District as ASP of Rajura.