Sanjay Arora, a Tamil Nadu-cadre IPS officer, was on Sunday appointed as the Commissioner of Delhi Police.
Arora is currently serving as Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. He will replace Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer.
Arora's appointment is notable as this is the third time in recent history that an officer outside of the AGMUT cadre has been appointed as the Delhi Police chief. The Union Home Ministry states that the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre of IAS and IPS is responsible for overseeing the crime and law and order situation in UTs.
Arora's predecesser Asthana too was not a AGMUT cadre officer. He was appointed in July 2021. Ajay Raj Sharma, a 1966-batch Uttar Pradesh-cadre IPS officer, was appointed as the Delhi Police chief in 1999.
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Here is all you need to know about new Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora and the unique functioning of the Delhi Police.
Who is Sanjay Arora?
Sanjay Arora is currently serving as the Director General of ITBP. He is a Tamil Nadu-cadre officer and is coming to AGMUT cadre on inder-cadre deputation.
Arora served as the Superintendent of Police of the Tamil Nadu Police Special Task Force that chased forest brigand Veerappan. He was awarded the Chief Minister's gallantry medal for bravery during this stint.
Arora was appointed as the ITBP DG in August last year and he has tenure in service till July 2025.
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Earlier, Arora served as Coimbatore police commissioner between 2002 and 2004. He also served in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF).
CNN-News 18 reported, "In 1991, Arora, after being trained by the National Security Guard (NSG), had played a pivotal role in forming the Special Security Group (SSG) to provide security to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu during the heydays of LTTE activity. He has also served as the Superintendent of Police of various districts of Tamil Nadu."
The unique functioning of Delhi Police
While Delhi is often thought of as a state because of its size and population, it is a union territory.
Since it is a union territory, all matters concerning land, law and order and police remain vested with the central government through the Lieutenant Governor, according to The Indian Express.
There have been demands for full-statehood of Delhi, the handover of policing duties to the state government, and division of policing powers in Delhi, but nothing has materialised over the years. It's a complicated political and legal question as a constitutional amendment would be requirted for any transfer of policing powers.
The Delhi Police is headed by the Delhi Police Commissioner, who is assisted by 10 Special Commissioners, 20 Joint Commissioners, 20 Additional Commissioners, and 108 Deputy Commissioners/Additional Deputy Commissioners, according to the Union Home Ministry.
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There are specialised units to carry out other responsibilities like traffic management, intelligence gathering, counter terrorism, VIP Security, armed reserves and police training.
(With PTI inputs)
