Over 20,000 police officials across states and union territories were transferred in 2019 within a period of two years of their posting, with more than 70 per cent of the shunting happening at the station house officer (SHO) level, according to official data. Altogether, there were 20,637 transfers of police officials during 2019 within two years of their field posting, the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) stated in its latest data on police organisations updated till January 1, 2020.

Officials included in the tally are SHOs, deputy superintendents of police (DySPs), assistant commissioners (ACPs), district SPs (SPs), deputy commissioners (DCPs), deputy inspector general (DIGs), inspector general of range (IG Range), additional CPs, and police commissioners who were transferred within a year or between one and two years of their posting. As per the BPR&D figures, 12 police commissioners were transferred within one year while another 12 transferred between one and two years of their posting. The maximum six such transfers took place in Tamil Nadu, it showed.

Among the most transferred were SHOs across the country — 8,540 within a year and 6,375 between and two years of posting, totaling 14,915 transfers (72.27 per cent) during the year, the data showed. Among the states and UTs, most SHOs — 4,209 — were transferred in Madhya Pradesh, according to the BPR&D, which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Deputy SPs and ACPs together accounted for 20.90 per cent of the transfers during 2019 — 2,424 within a year of a posting and 1,891 between one and two years, totaling 4,315 such transfers, the data showed. Most DySPs and ACPs — 525– who were transferred within a year were posted in Tamil Nadu, while most transferred between one and two years were in Uttar Pradesh at 701, it revealed.

The year also saw shunting of 1,118 (5.41 per cent) district SPs and DCPs within a year or between one and two years of their posting. A total of 602 such transfers took place within a year of their posting while 516 between one and two years, the data showed. The maximum district SPs and DCPs transferred within a year were in Tamil Nadu (134) while between one and two years were in Maharashtra (133), it showed.

The year also witnessed shunting of 153 DIG/IG Range/Joint/Additional CP-rank officers within a year of their posting and 112 between one and two years, totaling 265 (1.28 per cent) of all such transfers, according to the BPR&D figures. A maximum of 15 of these shunting within a year took place in Uttar Pradesh, while 22 such transfers between one and two years of service happened in Maharashtra, it showed.

Complete transfer figures were not available for Jharkhand, while they were partially unavailable for some UTs, the BPR&D stated.