Gurugram: Just before completing two years as the head of Gurugram police, Sandeep Khirwar was among the eight IPS officers who were transferred by the Haryana government on Tuesday.
Krishan Kumar Rao who was earlier Inspector General, Indian Reserve Batallion, Bhondsi, will now be the police commissioner of Gurugram.
He is expected to take charge of his new responsibility in a day or two.
Khirwar, meanwhile, will now be the Inspector General, Rohtak range, and will take the responsibility from Navdeep Singh Virk, whom he replaced as Gurugram police commissioner in 2016.
Promoted to IPS in 2001, Khirwar – a 1996 batch state police services officer – had last year overseen the quick transportation of Baba Ram Rahim from Panchkula to Rohtak.
Hailing from Bhiwani, Rao now has a major challenge to take charge of the police force which is grappling with law and order challenges of a growing metropolis.
Not only has the city seen an increase in the number of heinous crimes like murders and rape, there has also been an exponential growth of regular crimes like snatchings and burglaries.
According to official data, more than eight vehicles are stolen daily from the Millennium city and 30 per cent of the crimes have still not seen any conviction.
On an average, eight people die daily on the city roads. Moreover, Gururgram leads in the state in terms of sexual crimes against minors.
Having taken charge from Navdeep Singh Virk in August 2016, the tenure of Sandeep Khirwar saw many twists and turns. The 1995 batch IPS officer who in the past has also served in CBI was in the dock after the role of Gurugram police was questioned in the probe of Prince murder case.
There is a likelihood that the premier investigating agency may also charge sheet certain officers for botching up the probe involving the murder of the eight-year-old.
In the same year, there were also crimes like a 19-year-old being gang raped and her minor daughter being smothered to death in Manesar and a daylight robbery at Mannapuram bank.