Neeraj Kumar (police officer)

Kumar was born on 4 July 1953 to Shri Bishwanath Sahay and Smt. Pushpa Sahay in the city of Patna, Bihar. He completed his schooling from Sainik School, Tilaiya. In 1973, he graduated from St. Stephens College, Delhi and further went on to pursue his post graduation from the same college of the University of Delhi. On completion, he joined the Indian Police Services (IPS)[5]

Kumar joined the Indian Police Service in 1976 as part of the AGMUT (Arunachal-Goa-Mizoram and other Union Territories) cadre.

• Special Task Force (STF)

On promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police in 1993, he proceeded on deputation to the Central Bureau of Investigation where he served until 2002. In the CBI, he dealt with a wide variety of cases involving terrorism, organized crime, economic offences and corruption. He led the investigations in the serial blasts that rocked Mumbai (then Bombay), which were handed over to the CBI by the Mumbai Police in Dec. 1993. Under his leadership, the Special Task Force (or STF, created in the CBI to investigate the case) arrested seven members of the Memon family and sixteen other absconders. The charge sheets filed, at the time by the CBI led to the conviction of 100 out of the 123 accused in the case. Under his leadership, the STF also cracked the serial train blast cases of 1994.[6] which occurred on the first anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in various prestigious trains, and unearthed a terrorist outfit called Ahle Hadees. The trial of the serial train blasts cas ended in life sentence to all the fifteen arrested accused.

His tenure in the CBI is also highlighted by the solving of the Meenakshi Amman Temple blast case, the unearthing of the UTI Scam, the arrest and deportation of American Cultural Centre attack mastermind Aftab Ansari from Dubai, the arrest of Abdul Lateef, a notorious underworld don of Gujarat; Romesh Sharma, a Dawood Ibrahim henchman masquerading as a politician based in Delhi; the cracking of the cricket match fixing scandal in 2000.[7] the arrest of Jagtar Singh Tara, the first accused to be nabbed in the assassination of the then Punjab CM Sardar Beant Singh, which led to the unraveling of the entire conspiracy.[8]

On repatriation to the Delhi Police in February 2002 he was posted as Joint Commissioner of Police / Special Cell, responsible for tackling terrorism. During this tenure, he conducted several counter terror operations, many of which led to the neutralization of notorious Pakistani terrorists in Delhi. These included the encounters at Ansal Plaza,[9] Tughlaqabad Fort,[10] Deenpur Village in Najafgarh, Millennium Park and Lotus Temple.[11] Thereafter, he was posted as Inspector General of Police / Mizoram. On promotion he was posted as Director General of Police, Goa, where he launched a sustained campaign against illegal immigrants, drug mafia and the Russian mafia indulging in land grabbing, human trafficking etc. He masterminded the arrest of Tariq Ahmed Batlo, a Pakistan trained Kashmiri terrorist, who was tasked with an assignment to cause Bali like bombings in Goa. Serious terror incidents were prevented in the holiday haven as a result of this arrest. On his return to Delhi Police on transfer, as Special Commissioner of Police, he was responsible for the entire planning and execution of the police and security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games 2010, which have been widely appreciated. As Director General (Prisons) where, besides toning up the jail administration, he introduced several innovative measures like a literacy programme called "Padho aur Padhao", in collaboration with the National Literacy Mission Authority, which brought down illiteracy amongst jail inmates substantially; campus placement for reformed prisoners in which nearly four hundred inmates given jobs. He also started a semi-open jail in Delhi. His initiative "Sparsh", was a scheme for the welfare of nearly 2,500 inmates who did not get any visitors from their homes or friends. On 30 June 2012 he was appointed as the Commissioner of Police, Delhi. During his tenure as the CP, Kumar and his police force exposed the scam of spot fixing in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 6) of cricket.[12]

His first book ‘Dial D for Don’ published by Penguin Random House in 2015 is a runaway hit and figures on several bestseller lists. Kumar has recounted in the book the stories of eleven police operations that he conducted in the CBI. The book has received raving reviews from several quarters.

His second book 'Khakhi Files' published by Penguin Random House in 2019 has details of 9 other investigations conducted by him. Season one of 'Delhi Crime' a popular crime series on Netflix is based on chapter 'Night of shame' from the book. Season two of Delhi Crime is based on another chapter 'Moon Gazer' from the same book.

Kumar has undertaken various foreign assignments and training session as part of the Delhi Police. He went to Tokyo (Japan) for three weeks in 1985 for a training programme on Traffic Police Management and attended a course on Post Blast Investigations organized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI at Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1997.

He represented India at the UN Convention on Trans-national Organized Crime in Vienna, Austria. He also represented India at Vienna during deliberations of United Nations Manual on Kidnapping & Extortion, 2014. He was handpicked to be the Conference Secretary when the World Interpol Conference took place in New Delhi in October 2007. He has visited U.S.A., U.K, Germany, Australia, Israel, France, Japan, U.A.E, and various other countries for conferences, investigations and training programmes. In February, 2012 he was invited by the U.K. Government to share his experiences of organizing the security arrangements during Commonwealth Games 2010 for the benefit of the U.K. Police.

He was decorated with the President's Police Medal in 1992 and President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 1999 and has also been felicitated by Luton Cricket Club, United Kingdom for "making cricket a better arena to play in" in 2013.[13]

• IPS Neeraj Kumar Facebook