NEW DELHI, June 30: Senior IPS officer Neeraj Kumar today took over as Delhi Police Commissioner succeeding B K Gupta who retired after serving 36 years in different police organisations.
Kumar, a 1976-batch officer, was serving as Tihar Jail Director General before his transfer to Delhi Police where he earlier was Special Commissioner (Administration). He will retire in July next year.
Gupta took over as Commissioner on November 10, 2010 after then chief Y S Dadwal was transfered to Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as its Director General.
Earlier today, Gupta was given a warm farewell where he said constables who stand under scorching sun for long hours while performing their duties are the “real heroes” and they should be treated with respect.
Gupta also said that he had a “very satisfying” tenure as the capital’s police chief and claimed that street crime had reduced after he had taken over.
Reacting to his new assignment, Kumar had earlier said that it was a matter of “great honour and I will try hard to fulfil the expectations”.
During his career spanning 36 years, Kumar has held various important posts, including in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Delhi Police.
Before taking over as the head of Tihar in November 2010, Asia’s largest prison, Kumar successfully handled security arrangement of the sporting mega event Commonwealth Games here in 2010 as Special Commissioner.
Kumar, a post graduate from Stephens who started his career in IPS as Assistant Commissioner of Police of Chanakyapuri circle in 1979, had led various teams which cracked terror networks in the country.
He has worked on several important cases which include deportation of Aftab Ansari from Dubai in 2002. Ansari was the main accused in the shooting at the American Center in Kolkata.
An avid reader and a music buff, Kumar was commended for police arrangements made for Asian Games. Various Commissions of Inquiry which went into role of police during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots also appreciated his leadership qualities in containing riots.
His role in containing the rioters during Mandal agitation in South Delhi was also appreciated.
He served in Delhi Police in various important assignments like Deputy Commissioner of Police Traffic, Crime Branch and South District.
During his tenure in Traffic Police, he introduced several innovations, including the pre-paid taxi service at the airport, free eye camp for truck drivers and introduction of micro-processor based traffic signals.
In 1992 as DCP (Crime), he led the investigating team which unearthed the massive multi-crore rupee racket in state- run lotteries.
During his nine-year deputation in CBI till 2002, he dealt with a wide variety of cases relating to terrorism, organised crime, economic offences and corruption.
The CBI team led by Kumar also cracked the serial train blast cases of 1994, which occurred on the first anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition in various trains and unearthed a terrorist outfit called Ahle Hadees. The trial ended in life sentence to all the 15 accused.
His tenure in CBI is also highlighted by the solving of the Meenakshi Amman temple blast case of Madurai, the unearthing of the UTI Scam and the arrest of Romesh Sharma, a Dawood Ibrahim henchman masquerading as a politician based in Delhi and the cracking of the cricket match-fixing scandal.
In Goa as the Director General of Police, he had launched a sustained campaign against illegal immigrants, drug mafia and the Russian mafia indulging in land grabbing and human trafficking. (PTI)
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