Assam DGP G P Singh To Lead CRPF

In an order issued late night on Saturday (January 18, 2025), the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for the appointment of Shri G P Singh, IPS (AM 1991) as Director General, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Level-16 of the pay matrix from the date of assumption of charge of the post, for a tenure up to the date of his superannuation on 30.11.2027 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”

Singh, a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, will take charge from CRPF Special DG Vitul Kumar, who is currently holding officiating charge of the post of DG-CRPF. Kumar, a 1993-batch IPS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was given the officiating charge on December 31 last year, following the retirement of Anish Dayal Singh.

It is to be noted that G P Singh has a reputation as a tough cop, who had also worked with the Special Protection Group (SPG), which provides security to the Prime Minister.  

Since 2013, Singh was on central deputation and was associated with the National Investigation Agency (NIA), where he held the position of Inspector General (IG), and led investigations into several high-profile terror related cases.

Singh supervised the investigation of the Samjhauta, Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid blast cases, along with the Pulwama, Uri and Pathankot blast cases in Jammu & Kashmir. 

Though his central deputation tenure was till November 2020, Singh was abruptly rushed back to his cadre state Assam in December 2019 as ADGP (Law & Order) to quell the violent protests that had erupted across the state against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). 

Soon after the order had been issued, he had written on his ‘X’ handle saying: “Back to ASSAM…!!! The Karmabhumi.”

As Special DGP (Law and Order), Singh also served as Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Assam, and led the Rhino Protection Task Force constituted by the state government in 2021.

Singh hails from Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh. He completed his schooling and higher education from Lucknow. After initial training at the SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad, he joined Assam as an IPS trainee in 1992, when the state was witnessing a high level of insurgency, along with the rest of the North-East. 

As Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sonitpur), Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Rangia) and Additional Superintendent of Police (Nalbari), he took an active part in the counter insurgency operations in Lower Assam. 

Recognising his ability, the state government had then posted Singh as SP 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 Guwahati and thereafter, Barpeta. 

Later, he joined the elite SPG in New Delhi in 2002. During his tenure there, he showed his capabilities in VVIP protection. In recognition, he was given the responsibility of heading the close protection detail of two successive PMs of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. 

The CRPF, which was initially established as the Crown Representatives Police on July 27, 1939, got its present name following the passage of an Act on December 28, 1949, marking 85 years of its glorious history.

The force has since evolved into a substantial and diverse organisation, with a directorate, four zonal headquarters, 21 administrative sectors, two operational sectors, 39 administrative ranges, 17 operational ranges, 43 group centres, 22 training institutions, four composite hospitals (with 100-bed facilities), 18 composite hospitals (with 50-bed capacities), six field hospitals, three central weapon stores (CWS), seven ammunition workshops (AWS), 201 general duty battalions (GD Bns), six VIP security battalions, six mahila battalions, 16 Rapid Action Force (RAF) battalions, 10 COBRA battalions, seven signal battalions, one VIP security group and one special duty group (SDG).