Rajeev Krishna replacesPrashant as new UP DGP

Time of India

a day ago

Lucknow: Rajeev Krishna, who recently supervised the hiring of over 60,000 cops in UP Police as the chief of police recruitment board, was appointed as the new director general of police on Saturday.
The appointment of the 1991 batch IPS officer Krishna to head India's largest police force was announced after a day-long suspense amid talks of the possible extension of the outgoing DGP
Prashant Kumar
. At present, Krishna was also the DG, vigilance, apart from heading the police recruitment board. He will continue to hold these posts. His retirement is due in June 2029.
After instances of paper leak and subsequent cancellation of one of the largest recruitment drives ever last year, Krishna was given the charge of the board and he oversaw the smooth completion of the drive -- a process hailed for its transparency and efficiency amid mounting public scrutiny following exam leak last year.
His appointment is being seen as a reward for this feat as he has superseded 11 other senior officers to get the coveted post. Prashant Kumar, when he was given the charge of the acting DGP in Feb 2024, was 18th on the seniority list of IPS officers.
Like his predecessor, Krishna is the fifth officer to hold the position of acting DGP since 2022. The last permanent DGP in the state was Mukul Goel, who was removed three years ago.
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Since then, DS Chauhan, RK Vishwakarma, Vijaya Kumar, and Prashant Kumar have served as acting chiefs.
Earlier, Krishna has served as the DG of the Uttar Pradesh Police Academy, where he was responsible for training and mentoring new generations of police officers. Krishna has held several challenging field assignments, including postings as SP/SSP in Mathura, Etawah, Agra, Noida, and Lucknow.
He was also the founding chief of the UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), where he laid the groundwork for counter-terror operations in the state.
At the national level, Krishna served as inspector general of operations in the Border Security Force (BSF), where he oversaw operations along both the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders for four years. During this tenure, he implemented a sensor-based Comprehensive and Integrated Border Management System, enhancing surveillance and operational effectiveness along sensitive frontiers.
In 2018–19, he served as the ADG of Lucknow Zone, managing critical law and order situations across central Uttar Pradesh.
Prior to that, he was SSP Lucknow. Regarded as a forward-thinking officer with a strong focus on technology-driven policing, Krishna introduced several notable innovations.
While serving as ADG of Agra Zone, he launched Operation Pehchaan, a mobile-based platform to identify and track repeat offenders. He also integrated online monitoring for women's beat policing and Anti-Romeo squads and introduced e-Malkhana, a system for digitising police case property records.
Krishna also led the charge against cybercrime, initiating both awareness campaigns and advanced training programs for police personnel and the public. Born in Lucknow on June 20, 1969, Krishna holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
After clearing the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 1991, he was inducted into the Indian Police Service. One of the most impactful chapters of his career was his tenure as SSP Agra in 2004, when he led decisive crackdowns against notorious kidnapping gangs operating in the ravines.
Known for his strategic acumen and clean image, Krishna's appointment is seen as a move toward reinforcing both the credibility and modernisation of Uttar Pradesh's policing system.