Yesterday, Friday, the police officers assigned to the Central Barracks in Port-Louis found a familiar face: that of Rampersad Sooroojbally, better known under the name “Ravin”newly appointed Police Commissioner (CP). For many, this assumption of office marks the return of a respected and feared man at the head of the institution. He personifies a return to order, discipline and rigor. Values which have always guided him and which today seem more necessary than ever within the police force.
Yesterday morning, the new CP went to the emblematic premises of the Mauritian police, meeting several senior officers there. This old Deputy Commissioner of Policeretired from service in 2014, has 42 years of service in the police force.
Rampersad Sooroojbally was not just a police officer. He embodied the very essence of discipline. Within the Central Barracks, he had worn many jackets: director of the anti-drug brigade, responsible for the Very Important Person Security Unit (VIPSU), and later Counter Terrorism Unit.
The new CP has often been talked about for its innovative strategies in the fight against drug trafficking. He was also a member of the Mauritius Police Intervention Group (GIPM) and played a pioneering role in the creation of the VIPSU in the 1980s. At the time, his name even resonated among the highest circles of the power when he was appointed to ensure security for the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1989.
In 2015, following the 2014 general elections, Rampersad Sooroojbally's name appeared in a less glorious light. He had been arrested, accused of conspiracy with ex-DCP Dev Jokhoo and former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam in the Roches-Noires affair. This period of legal turbulence had shaken his image but the courts finally ruled in his favor in September 2019, striking out the accusations against him.
