Three weeks after Satyapal Singh resigned from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, another top Maharashtra Police officer, Additional Director General (Special Operations) Prem Kishan Jain, tendered his resignation to the state government on Friday, just a week before he was due for superannuation. Jain is also likely to join the BJP after quitting the force, Maharashtra Police sources said.

Jain, a 1981-batch officer who hails from Sangrur in Punjab, is also the secretary of the Maharashtra IPS officers’ association. On Friday afternoon, Jain submitted an application to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Amitabh Rajan, stating that he was seeking voluntary retirement due to “personal reasons”. He has requested the state government to relieve him from service immediately.

“I tendered my resignation to the state government on Friday. The file should have been recommended by the additional chief secretary (Home) by now, though I am not sure of the status. I am quitting the police force after putting in 33 years of service. Now, I wish to do something in the public domain,” Jain said.

When asked the reason for the hurry to resign despite being due for retirement on February 28, Jain said, “I wanted to be relieved of duties with immediate effect. I am due to retire at the end of the month, but the sooner the better.”

Rajan said, “We have received his application seeking voluntary retirement, and it is being processed.”

Home department sources said it would take a couple of days for Jain’s application to be processed, as formalities regarding dues and vigilance clearance had to be completed. The file will also have to be cleared by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

“Such an application is usually held back only when there is a problem in finding a substitute for the post. However, since Jain was due to retire in a few days anyway, this will not be a problem,” said a source.

While Jain did not wish to elaborate on his future plans since he was still in government service, sources said he too was likely to join the BJP. “He plans to contest the general elections either from Rajasthan or Mumbai. While contesting from Jodhpur was an option that was being explored, there was opposition to the move from party members there,” said a source.

Prior to his current posting, Jain has also served as principal secretary (home) and the first managing director of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation.

Pawar worries about ‘secular fabric’ of bureaucracy

Mumbai: NCP president Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed serious concern about senior bureaucrats quitting the service to join the BJP. “It is a matter of serious concern that a serving Mumbai Police Commissioner (Satyapal Singh) resigns and joins BJP the next day. We have to ensure secular fabric of the administration is not compromised. We should take steps to ensure only officers with high secular credentials are serving the administration,” Pawar told reporters here. ENS

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