In yet another reshuffle, 11 senior police officers in the state were transferred this afternoon.

Prominent among the transfers is that of Rajit Singh Sharma from DIG, Thane range, to Commissioner of Police (intelligence) attached to the Director General's office. He will be replaced by T C Whankade.

DIG (Nagpur) Dr Satya Pal Singh will replace Y C Pawar as Additional Commissioner of Police (north-east region). Pawar has been transferred to Police Academy as Deputy Director.

Commissioner of Police (Nagpur) Ulhas Joshi has been transferred as Joint Commissioner of Police (administration) attached to headquarters. Sholapur IG O P Bali has been transferred as CP, Nagpur.

D N Jadhav has been sent as Special Inspector General attached to the DG's office; R V Pawar has been moved from the post of IG, Pune, to Nagpur; and R K Ghadge has been posted as CP, Amravati.

A P Dhare has been moved as Additional CP, Nagpur, and A L Verma as CP, Nashik.

Ashwin Naik aideshot dead in encounter

A member of the Ashwin Naik gang, Rajaram Sakaram Pawar, was shot dead by the Thane police near G S College in Thane early this morning.

Acting on a tip-off that Pawar was to visit the area, police laid a trap for him. At around 5 am, Pawar was spotted and asked to surrender. Instead he pulled out a country pistol and fired at the police. In the subsequent exchange of fire Pawar was killed. He was shifted to Thane Civil Hospital but was declared dead before admission.

He had six cases to his name, including those of murder and extortion. A case had also been registered against him under MPDA.