Ashish Bhatia takes over reins of Gujarat police

AHMEDABAD/GANDHINAGAR: Ahmedabad city police commissioner Ashish Bhatia has taken over as director general of police (DGP) of Gujarat. The 1985-batch IPS officer succeeded Shivanand Jha, who retired on Friday after a three-month extension. Bhatia, 58, will continue to hold the additional charge of Ahmedabad police commissioner until a new police commissioner is appointed for Ahmedabad in the next 48 hours, the government said.
A ceremonial guard of honour was accorded to outgoing DGP Jha at the Police Bhavan in Gandhinagar. Bhatia took formal charge as DGP in the evening. All top IPS officials were present for a farewell organized for the outgoing DGP.
Suspense shrouded the name of Jha’s successor until the last day of his superannuation. Although most expected Bhatia to be the next DGP, his name was announced in the afternoon after the government received a fax from the Centre, saying that Bhatia’s name had been cleared as DGP.
Bhatia is known among the IPS community as an officer with an extremely sharp memory and an impeccable knowledge of organized crime syndicates and gangs. He is also credited with solving a number of terror crimes, including the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case. “His brightest point is that he remembers and keeps in mind everything. He would even remember the name of a small vehicle thief,” said a police official.
Bhatia hails from Haryana and completed his BE (mechanical) before joining the Gujarat cadre on December 23, 1985 as an assistant superintendent of police (ASP). During his early days in the police force, as SP Mehsana, Bhatia led a team which seized a huge consignment of arms.
While being posted as SP in the ATS, Bhatia played a key role in nabbing members of the Abdul Latif and Wahab Shaikh gangs after Latif’s arrest. “He was posted in the ATS when AK 56 rifles were recovered from a well in a farm at Zarania in Madhya Pradesh by ATS,” said a senior police official.
Bhatia was lauded for leading a clinical investigation of the July 26, 2008 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. The case was cracked within 20 days and conspirators were arrested from different parts of the country. Bhatia was then joint CP, crime branch.
A year later, in 2009, he spearheaded investigations in the hooch tragedy which claimed the lives of over 140 persons and arrested all the accused.