Himanshu Roy's strong voice and personality remain unforgettable

Roy taking charge of Mumbai Crime Branch, as its newly appointed chief, in 2010. Pic/Getty Images

Widely known among his colleagues as the 'hulk' with a 'strong voice' to match, the 1963-born Himanshu Roy was considered one of the most upright police officers, having vast knowledge of the crime scenario in the city. Posted as an additional director general of police (establishment), he served Mumbai and Maharashtra in various important posts.

Police over accounts
Roy had cleared his chartered accountancy exam but, eventually, chose the force over account books. He then cleared his civil services exam and became an IPS officer on August 21, 1989.

A cadre of the 1988 batch and an alumnus of St Xavier's College, Roy served in various crucial posts, including SP Nashik (rural), SP Ahmednagar, DCP Economic Offences Wing, DCP Traffic, DCP zone I, and Nashik police commissioner, where he tackled the Khairlanji massacre case.

Roy was posted as joint commissioner of police, Mumbai, ATS Maharashtra chief, additional director general of police (ADGP) of Maharashtra (planning and co-ordination), and ADGP (establishment), Maharashtra. Owing to the sensitive cases Roy handled during his stint as ATS chief, he and then commissioner Rakesh Maria became the first police officers to get Z+ security cover. Roy had recently been given the cover. "There is a special committee that reviews threat perception and recommends the category of cover," said a police officer.

Cracking down
His tenure as crime branch chief was termed "successful" with several sensational cases cracked under his supervision, among them the firing on Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar's driver Arif Bael, journalist J Dey's murder, the double murder involving Vijay Palande, the Laila Khan murder case and the recent murder of law graduate Pallavi Purkayastha.

Roy, as joint commissioner of police (crime) from 2012-2014, led the investigation into the 2013 Indian Premier League betting scandal. He also supervised the crime branch team that arrested actor Vindoo Dara Singh, son of wrestler Dara Singh, for alleged links to bookies in the spot-fixing case. Roy was responsible for the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of ex-ICC president N Srinivasan and owner of CSK franchise, in the same case.