Police inspector Daya Nayak, also known as ‘Encounter specialist’, has been transferred to the Mumbai police from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), sources told CNN-News18 on Monday.
The Additional Director General (Establishment) of the Maharashtra police issued an order for the transfer of Nayak and seven other Inspectors. Among them, Dnyaneshwar Wagh and Daulat Salve were also transferred from the ATS to the Mumbai police.
A 1995-batch officer of the state cadre, Nayak was with the Maharashtra ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) in Mumbai and headed the elite force’s unit based in suburban Juhu. Nayak, who has been a subject of controversy, has previously been suspended on disciplinary grounds.
Nayak was under suspension for nearly six-and-a-half years after the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested him in 2006 following complaints by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar that he owned assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and alleged underworld links.
In 2009, the then Director General of Police S S Virk denied permission to prosecute Nayak in the case with a remark that there were insufficient grounds and cleared him of all charges. The Supreme Court, in 2010, quashed all the charges against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
He was reinstated in service in June 2012 and posted in a local arms wing of the department. After a brief stint, he was transferred to the west region (Bandra to Andheri), considered a high-profile zone in the city.
He was then transferred to Nagpur in 2014, pending inquiries against him. However, he did not join duty there. Nayak had reportedly sent letters to both the state government and the DGP, stating that he was unable to travel to Nagpur due to concerns over his safety and the safety of his family, citing threats.
However, in 2015, he has suspended again for not reporting to Nagpur where he had been transferred a year before. The suspension order came from the then Maharashtra director general of police (DGP), Sanjeev Dayal.
Nayak was reinstated to police service by the state government in 2016.
In 2021, he was transferred to Maharashtra’s Gondia district. According to a transfer order issued by the state police headquarters, Nayak was attached to the caste certificate verification committee. He moved the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) challenging the transfer order.
A few days after the order, Nayak told the press that the MAT has stayed his transfer.
‘Encounter Specialist’
Nayak is known to have killed more than 80 gangsters in “encounters”, including Vinod Matkar, Rafik Dabba, Sadik Kalia and three Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives.
(With inputs from PTI)
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