Bharat Vir Wanchoo (born 15 October 1951) is an Indian political figure who was the Governor of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

from May 2012 to July 2014. Previously, he was Director of the

Special Protection Group The Special Protection Group (SPG) is an agency of the Government of India whose sole responsibility is protecting the Prime Minister of India and in some cases, his or her family. It was formed in 1988 by an Act of the Parliament of India. The ...

until 2011.

Personal life

Wanchoo was born on 15 October 1951. He studied at the

Scindia School The Scindia School is an Indian boarding school for boys, established in year 1897, and situated in the historic Gwalior Fort, in the city of Gwalior. It was originally started exclusively for royals and nobles of Indian princely states, part ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

and is a post-graduate in History from the

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

. He is married to Nalini Wanchoo.

Career

Wanchoo belongs to the 1976 batch of the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...

from the

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

cadre. He was posted in the Intelligence Bureau when he was asked to join the

set up in 1985 after the assassination of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. He has served in various positions in the Special Protection Group since then, and is considered to be close to the Gandhi family. He was transferred out in November 1997 but brought back to the SPG in February 1998 at Sonia Gandhi's request. Wanchoo alternated between postings in the IB and the SPG, serving these two organisations for 13 and 18 years respectively. Wanchoo was appointed Director of the SPG in 2004 for an initial two-year term but continued in that post for seven years till his retirement on 31 October 2011.

Governor of Goa

On 4 May 2012, Wanchoo took charge as

Governor of Goa The governor of Goa is a nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Goa. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. P. S. Sreedharan Pillai became governor on 7 July 2021. Powers and func ...

. His tenure as

was appreciated by many including a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

MLA from Goa and he was also called the best Governor the state ever had. He was questioned by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

on 4 July 2014 as a witness in connection with the 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal. He resigned the same day (4 July 2014) from the position of

Honours and awards

*Awarded the Indian Police Medal in 1993 *Awarded the President's Police Medal in 2001 * 'Tonk Cup' at the

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the civil service training institution in India. The institute trains Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their dut ...

for being the best horse rider of his batch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanchoo, Bharat Vir Governors of Goa Indian police officers Living people 1951 births