NEW DELHI: After being headed for four years by two successive non-AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre officers, Delhi Police has seen a period of leadership change, with two commissioners taking charge within the span of less than one month.
Tamil Nadu cadre officer Sanjay Arora retired on July 31, following which the Central government gave additional charge of Delhi Police Commissioner to 1988 AGMUT cadre officer SBK Singh. Rakesh Asthana and Arora were from outside cadres—Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
However, the tenure of Singh only lasted for 21 days, and he was replaced by a fellow cadre officer and the then Delhi Prison chief, Satish Golcha. He assumed charge as the 26th Commissioner. Incidentally, the decision to appoint Golcha as the full-time commissioner came just a day after Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had been attacked by an individual during a public hearing at her residence. Singh was appointed as the Director General of Prisons.
A 1992-batch officer from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) Cadre, Golcha previously served as the Director General of Delhi Prisons since May 1, 2024.
Golcha has a wealth of experience, having previously held key positions such as Special Commissioner (Law and Order) during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, in which at least 53 people were killed and over 700 were injured. He also served as Special Commissioner (Intelligence) and head of Crime Branch. He was also the DGP in Arunachal Pradesh from February 2022 to June 2023.
As Golcha was transferred from Delhi Prisons to Delhi Police, Singh was appointed as Director General of Prisons. Singh was holding charge of DG (Home Guards) and given additional charge of Delhi Police Commissioner on July 31.