Shivdeep Lande

Patna, Nov. 22: Bihar police, in a major shuffle, today transferred three IPS officers.

City central superintendent of police (SP)-cum-traffic SP Shivdeep Lande was transferred as Araria SP, while Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vikas Vaibhav was sent on central deputation.

Garima Malik, who was posted as Araria SP and was in the line of fire after the Forbesganj incident in June, has been transferred as Darbhanga SSP.

However, the police headquarters has not named the new city central SP.

Lande, who was often termed as “Dabangg” by a section of the media for his continuous raids and outspoken attitude, had gained popularity among the masses with the officer getting innumerable phone calls everyday about criminal incidents from all parts of the capital, including areas not under his charge.

The man, known for his inseparable sunglasses, had started off with continuous raids on fake product units in the capital.

“Garima was under pressure after the Forbesganj incident on June 3 in which the police opened fire on some protesting villagers killing four. It is a blessing in disguise for Garima as she has been transferred to Darbhanga, a bigger district. Lande’s unceremonious exit could be an outcome of his raids on the counterfeit product racket. It can be termed an abrupt transfer, as the new city central SP has not been named till now,” a police officer told The Telegraph on the condition of anonymity.

Sources said his purported rift with other senior police officers of Patna could be another reason.

“Lande’s policing had made him popular, with people coming down to his office for autographs. It might be a move to cut him down to size,” the officer added.

Though no police personnel came on record, they said Lande was among the better officers the capital had seen.

“There were very less criminal incidents in the central area under his command. His efforts saw the arrest of Kundan Singh, who was involved in the murder of transporter Ravikant Choudhary on July 28. But he had his drawbacks too, foremost being not able to handle station house officers well. Lande was among the most flamboyant SPs the capital has seen over the years,” a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer told The Telegraph.