Ahmedabad policeman with common touch hangs up his boots

Senior IPS officer Sudhir Sinha retired in a low-key manner on Monday after serving the state police department for 35 years. He is to date the only officer in the state to have served as commissioner at all the four commissionerates of the state police - Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Ahmedabad. He would be remembered as a cop with the common touch who endeared himself to the citizens across all the commissionerates.

Sinha had been one of the most senior officers in the state and has maintained a clean image throughout his career until a month ago when controversies surrounding suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt emerged. He was criticised by his fellow officers for the manner in which he handled Bhatt's arrest.

"I have never been in any controversy if you minus the last one month wherein I have been criticised. I have worked for 35 years and never took any politically-influenced decision," Sinha said on his last day in office.

Sinha, a 1976 batch IPS officer who hails from Ranchi in Jharkhand would be remembered for his pro-people approach. He had been a face of rapport between the police and the public. He was perhaps the most easily accessible police commissioner in the state and even gave his cell number to the public.

Although his decisions in his five-month-long stint as Ahmedabad police commissioner proved unsubstantiated, he said that if he had had some more time the results would have been more concrete. However, in these five months the most remarkable decision was a complete ban on the mushrooming hookah bars in the city where many unscrupulous cops also have stakes.

Sinha had also been vocal about police reforms. In his opinion the style of policing needs to be changed as the country is still dependent on laws made while under British rule. He said that police should become an independent body like the judiciary.

Sinha who handed over the charge to new police commissioner SK Saikia was also felicitated by various IPS officers and other cops in a farewell party at the police headquarters at Shahibaug.