Karthik S.

Jamshedpur city superintendent of police Karthik S. was transferred to Garhwa district on Saturday, a move that is expected to hinder investigations into several criminal cases, including the recent killings at Kadma market.

While Karthik will assume office as the new SP of rebel-hit Garhwa this week, additional SP (Special Task Force) Sanjiv Kumar will take replace him in the steel city.

Sources said the transfers had already been notified and Karthik would perform his charge-giving formalities on Monday. “I will leave Jamshedpur once I get the movement order from the police headquarters (in Ranchi),” the outgoing city SP said on Sunday.

The rejig of a senior officer — who is considered both efficient and honest — at a juncture when the East Singhbhum police department is saddled with a slew of serious cases like the Kadma market shooting on October 15, which left a Patratu gangster and his aide dead.

“Peace and security of citizens largely on the efficiency of senior police officers posted in the district. People of Jamshedpur were lucky that they had an officer like Karthik. He did a good job and solved many cases,” said Manoj Kumar Mishra, a Jamshedpur-based human rights activist.

A 2010-batch IPS officer, 35-year-old Karthik had taken charge as city SP in East Singhbhum on March 31, 2013. During his nearly two-year stint, the crime graph soared a few times, but police managed to solve most cases.

The prominent among them were the twin murders at Olidih in Mango in January and the gun attacks on Tata Steel and Tata Motors executives between November 2013 and April this year

Karthik said he liked challenges in the life. “I had been lucky to work here and had an excellent team. This was the reason why police solved complicated cases like the Mango double murder on January 1.”

The outgoing city SP recalled how a gang led by a police constable had killed Tata Motors executive Brajesh Sahay and Tata Steel official Ratnesh Raj, underscoring how difficult it was to face the shame of someone in the force being involved in crimes.

The brain behind several traffic drives, he added: “I like this city and its people. I wanted to make the roads safer. Parivartan held last month was a big hit. Hope such campaigns carry on in the city.”