Senior IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma has been appointed as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner. He has replaced Vineet Goyal, who was under fire over the handling of the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar hospital. Goyal has been made Additional Director General (ADG) of the Special Task Force (STF). The decision comes after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with agitating doctors on Monday night.
Who is IPS Manoj Kumar Verma?
IPS Verma is an officer of the 1998 batch. He was the ADG and IGP (Law & Order) in his last assignment in the West Bengal Police. He originally belongs to Rajasthan. IPS Manoj has also served as the Barrackpore Police Commissioner and additional director at the Directorate of Security. He also held significant positions such as IGP of Darjeeling and Superintendent of Police in West Midnapore.
Verma earned his credentials as a strong police officer during one of Bengal's most perilous times - the Maoist insurgency that plagued the district and the entire Junglemahal region in the late 2000s. When he was appointed the SP in 2008, Maoists had entrenched themselves in large parts of the region, establishing a near-parallel authority.
Verma's approach combined toughness with community engagement, and while his operational style often faced criticism, especially from political opponents, it effectively led to the systematic dismantling of the Maoist stronghold in the district.
By 2010, as the Maoist movement faltered, Verma found himself at the centre of both praise and controversy. He defended the controversial methods of the security forces, including a particularly brutal encounter at Salboni where dead Maoists were tied to bamboo sticks for transportation.
(With inputs from PTI)
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