IPS officer Sanjay Arora takes charge as Delhi Police commissioner

Senior IPS Officer Sanjay Arora took charge as the Commissioner of Police of Delhi on Monday. He succeeded IPS Officer Rakesh Asthana of batch 1984.

New Delhi: Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjay Arora Monday took charge as the commissioner of Delhi police. Arora was accorded the ceremonial guard of honor by the police force upon his arrival at the Delhi Police Headquarters at the Jai Singh Marg here.

In his first tweet after assuming office as the Delhi Police chief, Arora said the force will set new policing benchmarks. "Today, I took charge as CP, Delhi. The rich legacy of @DelhiPolice is marked with highest citizen services & sacrifices for ensuring the National Capital's safety and security. I am confident that together, we will carry forward this spirit and also set new benchmarks in policing", he said from the official Twitter handle of the Delhi Police chief, the @CPDelhi.

The 57-year-old officer was appointed as Delhi Police commissioner Sunday by the Union government. He succeeds 1984-batch IPS officer Rakesh Asthana. Arora's appointment as the Delhi Police chief came after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved his inter-cadre deputation from the Tamil Nadu cadre to the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre. The Delhi Police functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and its officers belong to the AGMUT cadre.

Arora has served as the Superintendent of Police of the Tamil Nadu Police Special Task Force, which was set up to hunt down forest brigand Veerappan, and he was awarded the chief minister's gallantry medal for bravery during this stint. He was appointed the director general of paramilitary force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in August last year. He also had stints with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF).

Officials said Arora had played an important role in forming the Special Security Group to provide security to the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during the heyday of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led a separatist war for a Tamil homeland for three decades in Sri Lanka. (PTI)