Sanjay Arora, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was appointed as
the new Delhi Police Commissioner on Sunday.
Arora, a 1988-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer was till now serving as the Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
The post of Delhi Police Commissioner would have fallen vacant after July 31, as the current Commissioner Rakesh Asthana’s tenure was set to end this day.
An official notification released by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday
said, “Police Division MHA has conveyed the approval of the Competent Authority for inter-cadre deputation of Sanjay Arora, JPS (TN: 1988) from Tamil Nadu Cadre to AGMUT Cadre”. The notice further read, “In pursuance of the said approval, Sanjay Arora, IPS (TN: 1988) is hereby appointed as Commissioner of Police, Delhi with effect from 1st August 2022 or from the date of taking over charge whichever is later and till further orders”.
Arora graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur (Rajasthan).
After joining the IPS, he served in various capacities in Tamil Nadu Police. He was Superintendent of Police (SP), Special Task Force, where he achieved significant success against the Veerappan gang, for which he was awarded CM’s Gallantry Medal for Bravery and Heroic Action.
In 1991, Arora, after being trained by NSG, had a pivotal role in forming the Special Security Group (SSG) to provide security to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu during the heyday of LTTE activity. He also served as the Superintendent of Police of various districts of TN.
He served in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on deputation as Commandant from 1997 to 2002. Arora commanded a border guarding ITBP Battalion in Matli, Uttarakhand from 1997 to 2000. As an instructor, he
had made remarkable contributions in the field of training, serving as Commandant (Combat Wing) at the ITBP Academy, Mussoorie from 2000 to 2002.
Arora served as Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore city from 2002 to 2004. He has also served as Deputy Inspector General of Police, Villupuram range and Deputy Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.
He has led the Chennai City Police as – Additional Commissioner – Crime & Headquarters and Additional Commissioner – Traffic. On promotion, he was appointed as ADGP (Operations) and ADGP (Administration) in Tamil Nadu Police.
Arora has served as IG (Special Operations) BSF, IG Chhattisgarh Sector CRPF and IG Operations CRPF.
He has served as ADG HQ & Ops CRPF and Spl DG J&K Zone CRPF before being appointed as DG, ITBP.
Arora assumed the charge of DG ITBP on August 31, 2021 as the 31st chief of the force.
Arora has been awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2004, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2014, Police Special Duty Medal, Antrik Suraksha Padak and UN Peacekeeping Medal among others.
Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, was appointed as Police Commissioner of Delhi in July, 2021, just four days before his superannuation.
Earlier, Asthana served as the Special Director at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and while serving as Director General of Civil Aviation Security, he was also given the additional charge of the Narcotics Control Bureau.