The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration has ordered a major reshuffle in the police department, transferring and posting 100 senior officers across the Union Territory. The changes, which took immediate effect, cover district police leadership, intelligence, traffic management, armed police, security, railways and specialised investigative units.
The order was issued by the Home Department on October 9 under Government Order No. 499-Home of 2026, in the interest of administration. The reshuffle includes 28 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and 72 Jammu and Kashmir Police Service (JKPS) officers.
Several districts and police establishments will have new heads as the administration reorganises responsibilities across the force. Ganderbal, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ramban and Poonch districts, along with the police districts of Sopore, Handwara and Awantipora, are among those affected by the changes.
The large-scale exercise also brings changes to senior leadership positions in specialised wings, police training institutions and armed police formations.
Senior IPS officer Danesh Rana, who was awaiting a posting, has been appointed Managing Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Housing Corporation. He replaces S.J.M. Gillani, who was holding the additional charge.
Garib Dass, who was serving as Director of the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy (SKPA) in Udhampur, has been transferred and appointed Additional Director General of Police for Homeguards, Civil Defence and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
Dr Mohd. Haseeb Mughal has been appointed the new Director of the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy, taking over from Garib Dass. The appointment places him at the helm of one of the Union Territory’s key police training institutions.
Abdul Jabbar has been appointed Inspector General of Armed Police, Jammu. The post places him in charge of a major component of the force responsible for armed police duties and related operational responsibilities.
Shahid Mehraj Rather has been appointed Inspector General of Technical Services, Jammu and Kashmir. He will also continue to hold the additional charge of Director of Police Telecommunications until further orders.
Rayees Mohammad Bhat has been shifted from the post of Deputy Inspector General of CID Kashmir to DIG, CID Headquarters, Jammu and Kashmir. The move changes his assignment within the Crime Investigation Department, which handles specialised investigative and intelligence-related responsibilities.
The reshuffle also affects senior officers overseeing police ranges and traffic operations.
Swarn Singh Kotwal has been appointed DIG of the Udhampur-Reasi Range, replacing Shiv Kumar Sharma. Sharma, in turn, has been posted as DIG Railways, taking over from Zahid Naseem Manhas, who has been assigned as DIG Armed Police, Jammu.
Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, who was serving as Senior Superintendent of Police for Traffic in Srinagar City, has been posted as Commandant of the 23rd Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police unit.
Bisma Qazi has been appointed the new head of Traffic Police in Srinagar City. The change comes as the reshuffle redistributes responsibilities across traffic management and other operational units.
The order also includes appointments in the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, the Special Operations Group, the Security Wing, the Crime Investigation Department and the Railway Police. These units perform different functions, ranging from tackling drug-related offences and specialised operations to protecting sensitive installations and managing security responsibilities.
Several district-level police establishments have been assigned new leadership as part of the exercise. The changes extend to police districts as well as administrative and operational positions across the Union Territory.
Among the notable appointments, Sudhanshu Dhama has been posted as SSP Kupwara, while Vaibhav Meena has been assigned as SSP Poonch. Neha Jain has been posted as SSP Sopore, Anna Sinha as SSP Ramban and Harshal Rajesh Mahajan as SSP Ganderbal.
Other appointments include K.M. Priyanka as SSP Traffic National Highway, Anand Kumar Mishra as SSP of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, and Satish Kumar as SSP Railways Jammu. The order also makes changes to the leadership of the Security, Technical CID and other specialised wings.
The reshuffle reaches beyond senior IPS postings, with JKPS officers also being assigned new responsibilities across district police, armed police battalions, security units and headquarters. These include appointments to positions in police welfare, personnel administration, civil defence, railway policing and training institutions.
The scale of the exercise reflects a broad redistribution of responsibilities rather than a limited change involving a handful of senior officers. By revising postings across district establishments and specialised branches, the administration has altered the leadership structure at several levels of the police organisation.
The order was issued on behalf of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and signed by Chandraker Bharti, Financial Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary in the Home Department.
The administration has stated that the transfers and postings take effect immediately. The order does not, by itself, establish that the changes are linked to a specific security incident or operational failure.
