Old-Hand Satish Golcha Is New Delhi Police Chief

The appointment was anticipated by many in the corridor of power, who were heard saying that a "home" cadre officer will be appointed head of the police force this time, after two previous Commissioners — Rakesh Asthana and Sanjay Arora — were brought in from outside cadres, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, respectively.

The decision to appoint Golcha as the full-time Delhi Police Commissioner came just a day after Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was allegedly attacked by an individual during a public hearing at her official residence.

Hours after she was attacked, the MHA put the CRPF in charge of her security. The paramilitary force is now providing her ‘Z’ category security. Before the incident, she was protected by Delhi Police personnel. 

In the order appointing Golcha, the MHA said, “With the approval of the competent authority, Satish Golcha, IPS (AGMUT: 1992), presently posted as Director General (Prisons), is hereby appointed to the post of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi with effect from the date of assumption of charge and until further orders.”

Golcha will take over from 1988-batch IPS officer SBK Singh, who has been officiating on the post since former CP Sanjay Arora superannuated on July 31. Singh is a full-time Director-General of the Home Guard (Delhi).

Delhi's top police post has often been filled by officers from outside the joint AGMUT cadre, beginning in 1999 when Ajay Raj Sharma of the UP cadre was appointed to the post, a practice that was later repeated in 2021 with Asthana and then with Arora.