Know the top cops in race for Odisha DGP post

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is likely to get a new Director General of Police (DGP) in January next year as the tenure of incumbent Sunil Kumar Bansal, a 1987-batch IPS officer, will come to an end on December 31.

At least seven senior Odisha cadre IPS officers including B. Radhika (1989), AM Prasad (1989), YB Khurania (1990), SM Narvane (1989), Arun Kumar Ray (1988), Arun Kumar Sarangi (1990) and Sudhansu Sarangi (1990) are considered as the frontrunners for the DGP post in the state.

“The state government has recommended the names of seven senior IPS officers to the Centre for the required approval for appointment of any one of them as the new DGP of Odisha,” said a highly-placed source in the state government.

Notably, Bansal had served as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Mayurbhanj before moving to the Centre on deputation in 1994.

He returned to Odisha and took charge as the DGP of the state in December 2021 after spending almost 27 years on central deputation.

It is worth mentioning here that Odisha will get its first woman DGP if senior IPS officer B. Radhika is appointed to the top post.

On the other hand, IPS officers YB Khurania and Sudhansu Sarangi had earlier worked as the twin-city Police Commissioner.