Latest news with #DGP-rank
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Punjab gets eight new DGPs: Promotion includes two women officers; total DGP-rank officers in state now 20
The Punjab government has promoted eight Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of the 1994 batch to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP). The list includes two women officers, Neerja Vohra and Anita Punj. Notably, Punj has been promoted alongside her husband, Praveen Kumar Sinha, marking a rare instance of a couple both holding the DGP rank in the state police. The other officers elevated to the top police rank are Naresh Kumar, Ram Singh, Sudhanshu Srivastava, V. Chandrashekhar, and Amardeep Singh Rai. All of them were serving at the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) level prior to this promotion. With these elevations, the total number of DGP-rank officers in Punjab has risen to 20. As per the provision and notification of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, Punjab has two sanctioned posts of DGP. The notification, issued in 2010 by the Centre under the All India Services Act, 1951 (LXI of 1951), read with sub-rules (1) and (2) of rule 4 of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, was framed in consultation with the Government of Punjab. It specifies that the state can have one DGP as the head of the police force and one DGP for home guards and civil defence. Under existing rules and DoPT guidelines, IPS officers are eligible for promotion to the ranks of Inspector General (IG), ADGP, and DGP upon completing 18, 25, and 30 years of service respectively.
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rajeev Kumar Sharma takes charge as Rajasthan DGP in Jaipur
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rajeev Kumar Sharma took charge as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Rajasthan in Jaipur on Thursday (July 3, 2025), succeeding former DGP Utkal Ranjan Sahoo, who took voluntary retirement after being appointed chairman of the State Public Service Commission. Anti-Corruption Bureau's (ACB) DG Ravi Prakash Meharda, who was given additional charge of the State DGP after Mr. Sahoo's exit, retired on June 30. Mr. Sharma was earlier on the Central deputation, serving as Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, New Delhi. Mr. Sharma, an IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, arrived at the Police Headquarters in Jaipur on Thursday (July 3, 2025) after being relieved by the Centre following a formal request sent by the State government earlier this week. The Department of Personnel has issued an order for his appointment for a period of two years. The appointment was made on the basis of a recommendation made by the empanelment committee, which was formed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The State government had submitted a panel of seven DGP-rank IPS officers, in the order of seniority, for consideration by the UPSC. Mr. Sharma said after assuming office that he would concentrate on taking forward the 'glorious traditions' of Rajasthan police and make Rajasthan a model State in policing for the entire country. 'The police team of the State will work with promptness, sensitivity and collaboration to ensure safety and security for all. Every police station will be people-friendly,' he said. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Mr. Sharma earlier held several key positions in Rajasthan, including the ACB DG, State Disaster Response Force DG and Director of the Rajasthan Police Academy. He also served as Superintendent of Police in several districts. He was awarded the President's Police Medal in 2014.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
It was a gift by Parameshwara at Ranya Rao's wedding: DKS
Even as raids by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) continues at Home Minister G. Parameshwara-run Sri Siddhartha Academy for Higher Education Tumakuru, on Thursday in connection with the Ranya Rao's gold smuggling case, Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, referring to a ₹40 lakh transaction flagged by the agency said that it pertained to a gift by Dr. Parameshwara at Ranya Rao's wedding. This came even as Dr. Parameshwara refused to comment on the Ranya Rao link. The ED raided 16 locations linked to Ranya Rao's financial transactions on Wednesday, which included hawala operators among others. ED sources said that an educational trust had cleared credit card bill of Ranya Rao to the extent of ₹40 lakh. Sources said while the payment was made on the instructions of an influential individual, the institute did not have any supporting documentation. Following the raids on Wednesday, Mr. Shivakumar visited Dr. Parameshwara at his residence on Thursday morning and later spoke to mediapersons on multiple occasions through the day. 'As the party president I have to ask him about the raids on his institutions and as to why his name was cropping up. Dr. Parameshwara said it was a gift during a marriage. We are in public life, we run institutions and we give a lot of gifts to people we know — ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh, ₹5 lakh, ₹10 lakh, nothing wrong in it,' he said, adding that Dr. Parameshwara may have helped an officer working with him during a marriage in the family by giving a gift and it was 'natural'. He further sought to distance Dr. Parameshwara from allegations of gold smuggling against Ranya Rao. 'As far as the woman's activities are concerned, no politician, let alone a senior leader and Home Minister like Dr. Parameshwara would ask her to smuggle gold. As politicians we meet thousands of people and we cannot be sure of the antecedents of all of them. The case against her is unrelated and let the law take its own course, we will not interfere,' he said. Meanwhile, speaking to mediapersons on Thursday, Dr. Parameshwara said ED officials had raided three colleges of Sri Siddhartha Academy for Higher Education. 'They came on Wednesday and Thursday and raids are still on. I have asked our staff to cooperate with the officials and give all accounts they ask for,' he said. When quizzed over the link to Ranya Rao case, he said it was not prudent to comment when the investigation was under way. 'Let the investigation be completed. I don't want to comment at this stage,' he said. Ranya Rao, a film actor and stepdaughter of DGP-rank officer K. Ramachandra Rao, was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths on March 3 at Kempegowda International Airport for allegedly smuggling 14.2 kg of gold.
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Indian Express
Bengaluru smuggling case: Ranya Rao and Tarun Konduru brought 100 kg of gold from Dubai to India, DRI tells court
The probe into the gold smuggling racket involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao and Telugu actor Virat Konduru alias Tarun Konduru has revealed that 100 kg of gold was smuggled to India from Dubai as part of their operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) told the Karnataka High Court on Monday during a bail hearing for the two accused. The agency stated that through the analysis of the Customs declarations made in Dubai by the two accused and the amount of gold found to have been received by hawala dealer Sahil Jain, who has also been arrested in the case, it found that 100 kg of gold was smuggled, apart from the 14.2 kg of gold seized from Ranya Rao at the Bengaluru airport on March 3. The agency said that it had found evidence of gold smuggling in 11 of the 31 visits undertaken by the actors to Dubai since early 2024. It added that it was looking for more evidence to link their trips to instances of gold smuggling. The actors had gone to Dubai on 25 occasions on single-day trips, the court was informed. The counsel for the DRI, Madhu N Rao, told the single-judge bench during the arguments that it had obtained four more Customs declarations pertaining to 2024 during the investigations. The court directed the DRI counsel to provide all details of the declarations. The high court also asked the DRI counsel how Ranya Rao had obtained special protocol services available to government officials at the Bengaluru airport during her return trips from the US. The counsel said that Ranya availed the protocol services at the airport on account of instructions given by her stepfather, senior DGP-rank police officer Ramachandra Rao, to a police constable who was handling the protocol services at the airport. The counsel for Ranya Rao earlier argued that the DRI did not follow search and arrest procedures mandated by the Customs Act while intercepting the actress on March 3 on her arrival from Dubai. The counsel for Virat Konduru, meanwhile, argued that his client was not connected to the smuggling activities. The DRI has alleged that the two accused used Konduru's US passport to pass the large quantities of gold through Dubai Customs checks by claiming that the gold was being taken to Geneva, Bangkok and the US. The high court will hear the case again on Tuesday.
