Naval Bajaj, a 1995-batch IPS officer, has been appointed as the chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), effective Wednesday. The position had been vacant since the previous chief, additional director general Sadanand Vasant Date, was promoted to director general of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in late March.
Bajaj joined the central agency on deputation in May 2021, serving as Inspector General in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). In January 2022, he transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as zonal director, a role he held until May 2024.
As part of the Maharashtra cadre, Bajaj has held several key positions in Mumbai, including deputy commissioner of police (Zone One), additional commissioner of police (South Region), and additional commissioner of police (Special Branch). He was promoted to Inspector General and led the Nashik Police Academy from 2014 to April 2017.
From April 2017 to May 2019, Bajaj served as Inspector General of Police for the Konkan Range. He was then transferred to Mumbai, where he became the joint commissioner of police (Admin), serving until October 2020 during the first lockdown.
Upon his promotion to additional director general, Bajaj took charge of the Economic Offences Wing, Maharashtra, replacing Prabhat Kumar, who was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau as ADG.