New Delhi: Sadanand Date, the former NIA chief who is hailed as a 26/11 hero, has been appointed as Maharashtra’s director general of police (DGP) with two years in office, the state government announced Monday. He will assume charge on 3 January 2026 and will succeed IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, the first woman to hold this post.
This appointment came after his early return from his central posting as NIA Director General to his parent cadre, Maharashtra. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved this move.
Date was one of the three IPS officers shortlisted by the UPSC for the post of DGP.
He has held many pivotal positions at both state and national levels. A 1990-batch IPS officer, Date is remembered as one of the heroes of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and was awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry.
Then an ACP, he was among the first senior officers to respond to the terror attacks. He reached CST and later moved to Cama and Albless hospitals, where Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail had laid siege.
Date succeeded in rescuing a lift operator who was held hostage by the terrorists. He led from the front in the fierce shootout, wearing the only bulletproof vest. As the team moved to the sixth floor and towards the hospital terrace, a grenade attack killed Sub-Inspector Prakash More and injured several officers. Date also suffered serious shrapnel wounds.