Senior Indian Police Service officer Param Bir Singh was on Saturday appointed the police commissioner of Mumbai, PTI reported. Singh will replace Sanjay Barve, who retires on Saturday. The Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government made the announcement.

Singh told reporters following his appointment that street crimes, women’s safety and curbing underworld crimes would be his priorities, ANI reported.

Singh is a 1988-batch officer and has earlier served as the police chief of Thane and deputy commissioner of police in several zones in Mumbai. He has also served as the superintendent of police of Chandrapur and Bhandara districts.

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Before his appointment, he was posted as the director general of the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau. The post will now go to Bipin K Singh, who was the additional director general of the bureau.

Barve had been the commissioner of police in Mumbai since February 2019, and had got two extensions.

In December 2019, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, headed by Singh, had cleared Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar in connection with an alleged irrigation scam. Pawar is now the deputy chief minister of the state.