Amulya Patnaik appointed as Delhi Police Commissioner
Amulya Patnaik has been appointed as Delhi's new police chief. Currently, serving as Special Commissioner of Police (Vigilance and administration) in Delhi police, Patnaik's order of appointment came through earlier today afternoon from the Ministry of Home Affairs. He takes charge from his predecessor, Alok Verma, on January 31, 2017. Patnaik hails from Odisha state and belongs to the AGMUT cadre.
Amulya Patnaik - Profile
Amulya Patnaik is a 1985 batch IPS Officer and belongs to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre. Patnaik has served as SSP (law and order) Puducherry and DGP of Mizoram. While serving with Delhi Police, Patnaik headed Crime branch. He focused on crime prevention by building partnership with residents which led to a drastic fall in heinous crimes.
Milestones in Amulya Patnaik's tenure
Amulya Patnaik, a low profile officer and hard task master, is known for his investigation skills. Some of his most prominent cases include cracking mysterious kidnapping case in Sarita Vihar, busting Asghar gang and the parcel bomb case. In the mid-90s, Patnaik launched Pratidhi, a Delhi Police initiative to assist and counsel victims of sexual abuse. He also launched anti-stalking and anti-obscene call cells.
Awarded for distinguished services
Amulya Patnaik has been a recipient of President's Police Medal awarded for distinguished service and a police medal awarded for meritorious service in the force.
Selection of Amulya Patnaik
There were three main front runners for the position of Delhi Police Commissioner: Deepak Mishra, Dharmender Kumar and Amulya Patnaik were the three contenders. Patnaik, despite being a batch junior to both Mr. Kumar and Mr. Mishra, superceded them for position of Delhi commissioner. His selection has been attributed to his "clean" image and his "non-controversial tenure" as a police officer.
Long tenure as Delhi Commissioner
Amulya Patnaik is expected to have one of the longest tenures as Delhi Police commissioner. He will retire in January 2020.
