Senior IPS officer Sanjay Arora takes charge as Delhi Police commissioner

Sanjay Arora, a senior IPS officer, took charge as the commissioner of Delhi Police today

Sanjay Arora, a senior IPS officer, took charge as the commissioner of Delhi Police on Monday, officials said.

Arora was accorded the ceremonial guard of honour by the police force upon his arrival at the Delhi Police Headquarters at Jai Singh Marg here.

The 57-year-old officer was appointed as the Delhi Police commissioner on Sunday by the Union government following the retirement of Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer.

Arora's appointment as the Delhi Police chief came after the Union home ministry approved his inter-cadre deputation from Tamil Nadu cadre to AGMUT cadre.

The Delhi Police functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and its officers belong to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.

Arora served as the Superintendent of Police of the Tamil Nadu Police Special Task Force, which was set up to hunt down forest brigand Veerappan, and he was awarded the chief minister's gallantry medal for bravery during this stint.

He was appointed the director general of paramilitary force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in August last year. He also had stints in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF).

Officials said Arora had played an important role in forming the Special Security Group to provide security to the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during the heyday of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led the separatist war for a separate Tamil homeland for three decades in Sri Lanka.