New DGP in New Year

Bhubaneswar (Reporters Today Bureau): Senior IPS officer Sunil Kumar Bansal is to take charge as the Director General of Police of Odisha today.

The 1987-batch officer will take over the charge from the current DGP Abhay who was appointed to the top post in November 2019. The IPS officer of Odisha cadre was appointed as the new Director General of Police of the state by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Sunil is currently serving as special director, Intelligence Bureau. Bansal’s name was among the three names sent by Odisha government to Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for appointment as state DGP. The other two police officers were 1988 batch officer Manoj Chhabra, who is posted as head of State Armed Police, and 1986-batch IP S officer Pradip Kapoor, who is posted as advisor (scientific) of national technical research organisation (NTRO).

Bansal had been recently relieved from Central deputation. He is due to superannuate from Government service on June 30, 2022. Prior to moving to the intelligence bureau, the IPS officer was superintendent of police in Odisha districts such as Dhenkanal, Angul and Mayurbhanj.

Bansal has been on central deputation since 1994 and has never worked with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government which was founded by chief minister Naveen Patnaik only in 1997, three years after the police officer exited the state to serve central security agencies.