Former Mumbai top cop Rakesh Maria has made several revelations on various issues, including Sheena Bora murder case and 2008 Mumbai attacks in his book titled 'Let Me Say It Now'. The former Mumbai Police Commissioner has also shared a shocking account of his unceremonial transfer after the Congress-NCP alliance came to power in Maharashtra in 1999.

In the book, he details how he was transferred after he initiated an investigation on an incident of a ruckus in an eatery in Mumbai.

Here is an excerpt from the book providing details of the incident:

The Maharashtra Assembly elections were held in September 1999 and the Congress-NCP alliance came to power and I was thrown out. Why? Because one day an acquaintance phoned me and asked, 'Have you heard of what happened in Bandra last night?'

No, I hadn't. I had not heard that some men had wined and dined in a restaurant in Bandra and when handed their bill, they had felt insulted and offended that they should be asked to pay. They had an altercation with the staff who had insisted on payment. The men had paid and left, only to return with some more of their colleagues. Then they had smashed the glass on the counter. They had pushed, slapped and abused the staff. The management had attempted to lodge a complaint at the police station, but the officer had dilly-dallied and finally asked them to come the next day.

Following the incident, Maria claimed that he ordered the respective police station to file an FIR and initiate an investigation into the matter. However, he later received a call from the office of then Deputy Chief Minister alleging that "a false complaint was being lodged and the police should not entertain it."

He told him that "the police would follow the due process, conduct a fair and impartial investigation and take the offence to its logical conclusion."

However as arrests were made in the case, it was found out that the key "accused" had "good connections" with the Home Minister.

With the arrests, the bells tolled for me. There was a murmur that the arrested accused had good connections with the office of the Home Minister and that I would be transferred. The nature of our work dictates that holidays are always uncertain and frequent leave just not possible. Yet I had made a rule for myself that every year I would try to take a few days off in December, to coincide with the school holidays. That year too I had put up my leave application in September itself and it was duly sanctioned. When the news of my impending transfer began doing the rounds, the CP Ronnie Mendonca said to me, 'Rakesh, please don't go on leave now, when they want to transfer you. Go later.' It was during his tenure that I had come in and it was during his tenure that I would be out. He was clearly not happy with it. I said Sir, whether I go on leave or not, they will definitely transfer me. So let me go. My wife and children are looking forward to the vacation. I have given my word to my family. Let me keep it.

Soon after that, he revealed that news of his impending transfer began "doing the rounds", and later the order for his transfer was handed over to him while he was on leave. He had completed only thirteen months of his two years service in the Northwest Region, the book stated.

Kunal was twelve and excited about the holidays. Krish was only four and I wanted some quality time with him. As expected, my transfer order arrived when I was on leave. As per norms and practices, I was to be in the Northwest Region for at least two years and I had completed only thirteen months!

In his thirty-six long years in the Indian Police Service, Rakesh Maria is credited with having built and led several Mumbai police teams which solved some of the most high-profile cases -- the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993, the Indian Mujahideen module in 2008, the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai, and the sensational Sheena Bora murder case which was brought to light when he was the Commissioner of Police.

"Let Me Say It Now" was published by Westland Books on February 17, 2020, and is available in bookstores under the 'Biographies and Autobiographies" section.