CP Arora retires today, all eyes on Delhi’s new top cop

With the incumbent Delhi police chief Sanjay Arora set to retire on Thursday, all eyes are on the next top cop of the national capital.

The police circles are abuzz with talks of several officials in the race with the 1992-batch IPS officer Satish Golcha, currently posted as Director General, Tihar Jail Complex, leading the race.

Sources told The Tribune that the official order on the appointment of the next Delhi Police Commissioner is expected by Thursday.

Incumbent Arora is set to transition to a significant new assignment soon. He will retire on July 31, despite earlier speculation about a possible extension.

However, an official order instructing the planning of his farewell ceremony at New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp, on Thursday effectively signalled the end of his tenure without extension.

Other names that are doing rounds for the top post are Gyanendra Pratap Singh, a 1991-batch officer of the Assam cadre and currently posted as DG, CRPF, and Shatrujit Kapoor, a 1990-batch officer of the Haryana cadre and currently serving as the DGP, Haryana.

Among senior officers in the AGMUT cadre currently under consideration are SBK Singh (IPS 1988 batch), Virender Singh Chahal, Nuzhat Hassan (both IPS of 1991 batch) and 1993-batch IPS Praveer Ranjan, sources said.

Arora, a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, took over as Delhi Commissioner on August 1, 2022, succeeding Rakesh Asthana.

During his time, the capital witnessed gang wars, extortion threats, cyber frauds, bomb scare incidents, two blasts in Rohini, arrest of top AAP leadership, including former CM Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia among others, and the Shraddha Walkar murder case.

Moreover, Arora is also considered media shy and did not hold any press conference during his tenure as CP, Delhi Police.

The Police Control Room (PCR) unit, which had been merged with the law and order wing during the tenure of Arora’s predecessor, was reinstated as an independent unit.

It remains to be seen if the government will pull off a surprise this time too as it did with the appointment of Arora back in August 2022.

Delhi