Navi Mumbai: Since taking charge as Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, on December 14, 2022, former Mumbai Joint Commissioner Milind Bharambe has ushered in a transformative era in policing, significantly enhancing crime investigation methodologies and citizen engagement.
In just two years, Bharambe has introduced a host of pioneering initiatives, making Navi Mumbai the first commissionerate in the state to implement several of these measures. His leadership has not only bridged the gap between the police force and the public but also modernized the way investigations are conducted.
From launching widespread awareness programs on cybercrime, drugs, and emergency response under Alert Navi Mumbaikar – Dial 112, to fostering stronger community policing, the Commissioner has ensured that citizens are active partners in safety and vigilance.
Navi Mumbai Commissioner Milind Bharambe
Under his tenure, crime investigation has been revolutionized through the use of technology and structured systems. The NELSON System for efficient case tracking, e-Pairavi for streamlined court case documentation, and i-Bikes for rapid forensic access have redefined the speed and precision of police work. Additionally, the establishment of an Evidence Management Cell has brought systematic organization to the storage and retrieval of crucial case materials.
Commissioner Bharambe’s tech-driven and people-centric approach has not only made investigations more effective but has also earned Navi Mumbai Commissionerate a reputation for innovation and accountability in law enforcement.
Q. The Dial 112 service has seen a significant increase in calls from 2024 to 2025. What key factors have contributed to this growth and improved public trust?
A. While I was the Inspector general of police (Law and Order) of the state headquarters, I had known of the flagship project of the central government of 112. Hence it was one of my visions to start an alert program in Navi Mumbai when I take charge and educate the citizens of the number 112 for help. Eventually, the plan is to integrate fire and health too in this number. Initially there were call-patching issues but now the glitches have been cleared. We also follow a proper analytics of the 112 response time and on an average six minutes is the response time taken.
Q. What efforts are being made to reduce the response time of 112?
A. We segregate the call details that we receive on 112 and find a pattern to it and make changes to the patrolling accordingly. For an instance, if we find calls more often from a particular area during night hours, we would increase the patrolling and police presence there.
Q. What’s your strategy for strengthening cybercrime prevention and investigation?
A. In May 2023, we started independent Cyber police station for Navi Mumbai. Besides, we also started cyber cell in every police station. Prevention is the best measure to tackle the increase in cyber crime and for that we have started various awareness programmes across the city. We have whatsapp and youtube channels as well that share cyber related videos to aware the citizens. In every cyber crime, the most important is the acknowledegement of the crime by the police and that is happening now as cyber crime below Rs 50 lakh is registered with police station and the cyber cell of police station looks into it while above Rs 50 lakh is transferred to the cyber police station.
Q. With the introduction of cyber cells in every police station, how has local-level capacity improved in handling digital crimes?
A. Capacity building is a continuous process and we get the young personnel trained for the same. We hire private trainers to train the staff. We have our staff going to housing societies to spread cyber related awareness and we have noticed that we do not get any cyber related complaints from those housing societies where we conduct the awareness session.
Q. How do you plan to expand the Nirbhaya initiative further?
A. Every police station has one Ertiga car and few two wheelers that are to be driven by female staff. It has still not reached the level that I intended it to reach and the continuous efforts are made to make this initiative better. We try to rope in more female staff for the Nirbhaya patrolling.
Q. Can you elaborate on the support systems available for women at each police station, especially in vulnerable cases?
A. We started a women’s cell in every police station. The intention is that no female complainant has to a narrate her ordeal to any male staff and a woman staff is always available at the police station to listen to the woman complainant.
Q. Navi Mumbai Police has seized narcotics worth over Rs 60 crore and arrested 2,000 plus accused. What has been your most successful strategy in combating drug networks?
A. I would still say Rs 60 crore worth nacotics is only a decent quantity. A lot of contraband goes down the drain during raids. The accused have themselves confessed to have flushed the narcotics when the police barge inside their residences. The most successful strategy to bust a racket is by coordinated raids that we have conducted multiple times. With the coordinated raid, we make sure that one group does not alert the other group about the raid. Checking the illegal immigrants and deporting them has also helped in keeping a check on Nigerians. We are no also recording their bio metrics and sending them to the ports and airports so that the illegal immigrants cant reenter the country.
Q. The use of systems like ePairavi, i-Bikes, Nelson, and EMC seems to have streamlined case handling. How have these technologies improved conviction rates and investigation quality?
A. Use of these technologies will have a long-term impact and not an immediate one. Using these technology when we are saving the evidence in a tamper-proof way, it helps us in having a water tight case. No extra efforts are needs to follow these procedures and it will show the positive results in coming years when these cases come up for judgement. In the year 2023, the conviction rate was 35% and in the year 2024, it was 44%.
Q. With programs like Job fairs for police families, JALLOSH and Diwali Melava for the staff, what has improved within the department?
A. These are welfare measures taken up for the staff. The staff has no time for their family so it becomes our moral responsibility to take care of them. Hence, we had programs that helped secure jobs for the children of police staff. Jallosh and Diwali Melava was a get together with the families of the police with their family members too showing their talents in the cultural program.
Q. What measures have been taken to improve police-public relation?
A. We started street patrolling on foot campaign which would encourage police and public interaction more. Besides, awareness campaigns in society has improved the police-public relation.
Q. What new measures are being planned to tackle traffic?
A. Increase of digital eyes, that is the cctv cameras is what is required now. Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Panvel Municipal Corporation is working on it and soon we would have more cctv cameras which will also have face recognition and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system.
Q. How has the journey as a Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner been so far?
A. Very satisfactory. It was my first posting as commissioner of a city and it has been a satisfactory journey. With a mix of both urban and some percentage of rural population, Navi Mumbai is a peaceful place to work.
