MHA appoints Rashmi Ranjan Swain as 17th J&K Police chief

Srinagar: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI), Friday appointed senior IPS officer Rashmi Ranjan Swain of AGMUT 1991 as 17th Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police.

He has been given additional charge and confirmation as full-fledged J&K DGP would most probably come anytime in November after some panel correspondence with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

An order issued by the MHA here said that Swain would assume charge of J&K DGP from incumbent Dilbag Singh who retires on October 31.

“With the approval of competent authority, Swain, IPS (AGMUT 1991), presently posted as Special DG (CID), J&K, will also function as in-charge DGP, J&K, in addition to his existing charge with effect from November 1, 2023, and until further orders,” the order said.

Swain is presently serving as J&K intelligence chief, besides the Director of the State Investigation Agency (SIA) and Terror Monitoring Group (TMG).

The appointment order came hours after Greater Kashmir exclusively reported that Swain would be the new DGP and assume charge in the later half of the day on October 31.

“The panel correspondence with UPSC is underway and once that is completed Swain will be full-fledged J&K DGP,” MHA sources. “Most likely the correspondence will be completed any time in November.”

They said that there had been certain such cases when the additional charge of DGP was given to an IPS officer.

“After formalities with the UPSC, the officer becomes a full-fledged DGP,” the sources in the MHA said. 

Swain is the 17th J&K DGP and would take over as Dilbag Sigh.

The post of J&K DGP was created in 1982 and Peer Ghulam Hassan Shah was the first DGP of J&K.

Before creating the post of DGP, the J&K Police force was headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP) rank officer.

Even before creating the post of DGP the officers from paramilitary forces have headed J&K Police for brief stints in J&K.

The decorated IPS officer, Swain has served in J&K in various capacities and has the distinction of serving as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in both Srinagar and Jammu cities.

Besides, he has served as AIG and DIG in the Vigilance organisation – now Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB).

In June 2020, Swain was repatriated to J&K after the J&K government requested the Centre to avail his services.

He remained on central deputation for over 15 years and served on a foreign posting for his outstanding work.

Swain took over as the J&K intelligence chief in June 2020 and made his best efforts to destroy the network that was aiding and fueling terrorism and separatism.

In November 2021, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) was formed in J&K to crack down on terror.

The SIA’s formation was his brainchild and Swain had the honour to be its first director and solve the decades-old murder case of Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir, Moulvi Muhammad Farooq.

The SIA investigated and is investigating several terror-related cases including narco-terrorism and has even made the arrests of the accused in other states of the country.