Noel Swaranjit Sen (born 24 December 1946) is a retired

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 ...

Policeman of 1968 batch. He was Director-General and Inspector-General of Police''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'', Hyderabad, ''Swaranjit Sen is new top cop'', December 31, 200

/ref> (DGP) in the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. After a stint with the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

(Short Service Commission) in the 1960s, he became an Officer of the Indian Police Service. He was also a Commandant of the 1st Battalion of

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

.J. S. Joura, ''A Blessed Life'', Hemkunt Publishing, New Delhi, 2011, p.15

/ref>

Personal life

Swaranjit Sen was born on

Christmas eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

in the year 1946 and hails from

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 ...

and pursued scholastic and collegiate studies at notable academic institutions in India. He was at The Doon School, Dehradun from where he passed out in 1965. This was the time when John A. K. Martyn was the Head Master of the School. For collegiate studies, he moved to

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

when Satish Chandra Circar was the Principal. Sen pursued graduate studies leading to

B. A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Career

Indian Army (5th Short Service Commission)

Swaranjit enrolled for the 5th Short Service Commission of the Indian Army in 1967 serving between 1968 and 1973. He also took part in the military operations in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, which were led by none other than

Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...

. By 1973, Swaranjit opted out of military service and moved to policing joining the

on July 8, 1973. However, his earlier service in the Indian Army has been given due credence. His service in the IPS has been counted from 1968.

Indian Police Service (1968 batch)

It was in 1973 that Swaranjit Sen moved to the Indian Police Service. He was allotted the Andhra Pradesh cadre and belonged to the 1968 batch. He was Superintendent of Police in

Kurnool district Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the North western part of the state and is bounded by Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana in the north, Raich ...

and

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

. Swaranjit Sen also had moved on central deputation serving as

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the 1st Battalion of the

in Jammu and Kashmir. Sen rose from the ranks of the police force and finally headed the Andhra Pradesh State Police Force. He was made Director General and Inspector General of Police on 31 December 2004, a post in which he served for two years until his retirement on attaining superannuation on 31 December 2006. His predecessor was S.R. Sukumara.Swaranjit Sen lists priorities
/ref> It was during then Chief Minister

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (8 July 1949 – 2 September 2009), popularly known as YSR, was the 14th chief minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, serving from 2004 to 2009. Reddy was elected to the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12t ...

's tenure that he was appointed as DGP. By that time, he was already serving as Home Secretary. Swaranjit has been credited with the creation of Special Protection Force (SPF) and had conducted many fire safety drills during his tenure as Inspector-General of Fire Services. An expert in tackling Naxalism, he has been invited by other states who have taken police action against the group. A Christian, he has also been active in advocating for minority rights in India

Post retirement

Swaranjit Sen was made Chairperson of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. In 2014, Swaranjit Sen was honoured for his integrity and service during the centennial celebrations of the

National Council of Churches in India The National Council of Churches in India is an ecumenical forum for Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. History The Council was established in 1914 as the "National Missionary Council." In 1923, the Council constituted itself as the "Nat ...

held at the nearly-ecumenical

Andhra Christian Theological College Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University G ...

, Secunderabad.''NCCI Centenary Celebration – Hyderabad Region'', September 17, 2014
/ref>

Personal life

Career

Indian Army (5th Short Service Commission)

Indian Police Service (1968 batch)

Post retirement

References

Further reading