Amitabh Pathak is new Gujarat Police chief

The Gujarat government on Wednesday appointed 1977-batch IPS officer Amitabh Pathak as the new Director General of Police (DGP). He will take charge after in-charge DGP Chitranjan Singh retires on Thursday.

"The government issued the order of the appointment this evening," said Principal Secretary (Home) S K Nanda.

Pathak's appointment came as a surprise to many as Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police S K Saikia was earlier said to be the first choice for the top cop's post.

Both Pathak, who is currently director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and Saikia were promoted to the rank of DG before the December Assembly elections while Singh was made the in-charge DGP.

While both are officers of the same batch, Saikia is senior to Pathak and will retire in October. Pathak will retire in 2015.

Pathak had last held an executive post as Ahmedabad CP in 2010 as an ADGP, replacing Saikia who was transferred to the State Human Rights Commission after he wrote to the CBI during the investigation of the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case that a police inquiry was ordered against Popular Builders owners in 2005 but not executed.

As Ahmedabad CP, Pathak had taken a stern action against some crime branch officers, seeking a report against encounter cops Tarun Barot, K K Patel, J M Yadav, J D Purohit and M D Chaudhary.

He had ordered the DCB to probe 18 complaints against Barot, 50 against Chaudhary, eight against Purohit and one against Patel.

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