GP Singh appointed as new DGP of Assam

Staff Reporter, Guwahati, January 31: Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta retiring after the completion of his service tenure as DGP, India Police Officer (IPS) officer GP Singh took charge as Assam Director General of Police (DGP) on January 31. After his appointment as Assam DGP, Singh thanked Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and said he looks forward to the opportunity of serving the people of the state. Singh, a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has worked with the National investigating for six years, and in several parts of the northeast, including Assam, for over 18 years. He served as the IG of North Assam and was also a part of several operations against the outfit United Liberation Front of Assam. During his tenure with NIA, GP Singh worked on several militancy-related cases in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern region, and Punjab. Besides this, Singh also dealt with several cases of NIA in Kashmir including the terror funding case. Interacting with the media, the new DGP GP Singh mulls being more responsive in social media handle, so that action could be taken at an appropriate time. On the otherhand, speaking on the occasion, former DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “After my service, I will continue to be part of the Assam police since it is a philosophy, way of life, and service that I will salute a thousand times.” Hailing from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, he did his schooling and higher education at Lucknow. After initial training at the prestigious SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad, India, GP Singh joined Assam as an IPS trainee in 1992 when the state along with the rest of North-East was witness to a spurt in insurgent activities. As Assistant Superintendent of Police Sonitpur, Sub Divisional Police Officer Rangia and Additional Superintendent of Police Nalbari he took an active part in the CI Ops in Lower Assam. In recognition of hard work done in the formative years of police work, Singh was posted to Jorhat, which had the unique distinction of being the only district other than the capital Guwahati to have carried out Counter Insurgency operations without Army assistance under the Unified Headquarters scheme. He was subsequently posted as SP of the capital city of Guwahati and thereafter Barpeta. He was part of the UNDP project on Improving the Organization and Management of the Law Enforcement System in India, visiting the UK and working with various police forces in the UK including the at National Police Training facility at Bramshil, leading to the setting up of Community Liaison Groups and Nagrik Samitis in Jorhat and Guwahati for greater Police - Public cooperation. He joined the elite Special Protection Group in New Delhi in 2002. During this period, he successfully achieved specialized capabilities in VVIP protection. In recognition of his capabilities, he was given the responsibility of heading the close protection detail of two successive Prime Ministers of India, both within and outside the country. On his return from Delhi assignment, GP Singh was posted as Deputy Inspector General and, subsequently, as, Inspector General of Police at Guwahati, where he was instrumental in dismantling the terror network of banned terrorist groups ULFA and NDFB at a time when Guwahati was grappling with the scourge of repeated IED explosions. This was achieved largely due to improved intelligence networks and community participation with the aid of the Police Authority. He was dispatched as IG North Assam Tezpur in 2010 after the ethnic massacre in Sonitpur district. He was again brought back to Guwahati in 2011 after the violence at Dispur in June 2011. Thereafter, he was sent as IGP BTAD Kokrajhar in 2012 after ethnic clashes broke out in BTAD. From November 2013 to December 2019, he was posted as Inspector General with the National Investigation Agency at New Delhi, which is the specialized Counter Terrorism Investigation Agency of the Government of India. During this tenure, he worked extensively in the Northeast, Kashmir, Punjab, and the hinterland. He supervised the investigation of ISIS-related terror crimes in India as well as their international conspiracies. He led the NIA effort in unearthing the involvement of separatist leaders in terror funding in J&K. Curtailing the deputation tenure, he was brought back to Assam from NIA in December 2019 at the peak of CAA agitation in Assam. From August 2020 till January 2023, he held additional charge of the Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Government of Assam and led the effort against corruption amongst government servants. He also led the multi-agency Anti Rhino poaching task force of the Government of Assam and was instrumental in ensuring Zero Rhino poaching in 2022 for the first time in a period of 45 years.