DGP RP Sharma assumes office

Cuttack: Senior IPS officer Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sharma took over as the Director General of Police (DGP) from incumbent KB Singh in presence several senior police officials at State police headquarters here today.

The newly appointed police chief was given guard of honour before he paid tributes at martyrs' memorial.

Soon after taking charge, Sharma said at a press meet- "Our chief objective is to bring more transparency and transformation in work of police. The 3Ts formula of CM Naveen Patnaik- transformation, transparency and team work- are also is equally applicable to police. Maoist menace is a challenge for police which has done commendable work in curbing naxalism. We will look forward towards effective use of new technology to deal with the crime and support continuous training programmes for skill development of  officials to handle the criminals.”

The State government effected the major reshuffle in IPS cadre yesterday replacing Singh with Sharma. Singh was posted as chairperson of OSRTC.

Sharma in a nutshell

A 1986 batch IPS officer, Dr. Sharma was elevated to DG rank and appointed as Director of State Vigilance in January 2016. Before that, he served as the Commissioner of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack police commissionerate. He served as SP in Kalahandi, Berhampur, Dhenkanal and Balasore between 1990 and 2001. He also served as DIG in Crime Branch and Central Range.

He had held prestigious positions with National Security Guard (NSG) while on central deputation in 2004.  He had also served with the UN in its Support Mission at Haiti as well as the drug administration.

A native of Rajasthan, Sharma is a doctor by qualification and has held a law degree before being an IPS.