Senior IPS officer Mahesh M Bhagwat assumed charge as Hyderabad Police Commissioner on Friday, succeeding V C Sajjanar after the Telangana government issued transfer orders as part of a reshuffle involving 21 IPS officers.
Bhagwat was serving as Director General of Police (Law and Order) before taking over the city police commissionerate. His appointment places an officer with responsibility for law and order at the head of policing in Hyderabad, the state’s principal metropolitan centre.
The change follows government orders issued on Thursday. The transfer marked a wider administrative reshuffle across the Telangana police department, involving 21 IPS officers. The supplied government decision, as reported by Telangana Today, changes the leadership of Hyderabad’s police administration while also reallocating responsibilities elsewhere in the state police hierarchy.
Sajjanar, who previously served as Hyderabad Police Commissioner, has been transferred and appointed Director General of Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence. His new assignment brings together responsibilities linked to fire services, disaster response, emergency operations and civil defence.
The transition is therefore not limited to a change at the city police commissionerate. It also shifts the senior officer previously leading Hyderabad policing to an organisation responsible for emergency and disaster-related functions across Telangana. The order forms part of the state government’s broader administrative restructuring of senior police positions.
For Hyderabad, the immediate institutional change is the replacement of the police commissioner responsible for overseeing the city police administration. The source report does not specify any new policing priorities, operational directives or changes to the commissionerate’s structure following Bhagwat’s assumption of charge.
The timing also establishes a clear sequence for the transition: the government issued the transfer orders on Thursday, and Bhagwat formally assumed charge on Friday. The available report does not provide details of a formal handover, a statement from Bhagwat, or any announcement regarding his first administrative measures.
The reshuffle highlights how senior appointments can alter the leadership of key urban institutions through state-level administrative orders. In this case, the decision links Hyderabad’s policing leadership with a simultaneous change in the state’s emergency-response administration. Further details on the new commissioner’s priorities and the implementation of the wider reshuffle were not available in the supplied report.
