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Date, 59, a 1990 batch IPS officer, will replace Rashmi Shukla, who is retiring on January 3.
He will have a fixed tenure of two years as the chief of the over two lakh strong Maharashtra police force.
Date’s appointment follows his recent premature return home from central deputation where he was heading the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Date is widely hailed as one of the heroes of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
On the fateful day of 26 November 2008, known as the 26/11 terror attacks, Date was serving as Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) in 2008.
He led a police team that killed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail on the rooftop of Cama Hospital and despite being seriously injured by grenade shrapnel, he continued to engage the terrorists.
He was later awarded the President’s Police Medal for gallantry.
To this day, Date’s body still has fragments of metal from that night embedded in it, particularly near his eye, and he describes them as “medallions” from the battlefield rather than injuries.
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The officer has wide experience in state and central agencies as he has served in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and as the first police commissioner of Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar. Date also served as Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) and Crime in Mumbai Police.
He has also served as DIG in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and IG (Operations) in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Date, who holds a doctorate in economic offenses from Pune University, is taking charge at a crucial time for the state’s law and order machinery when local body elections are being held.