AHMEDABAD: After nearly five months under an acting police chief, Gujarat has appointed 1993-batch IPS officer GS Malik as its new Director General of Police (DGP). He succeeds KLN Rao, who had been holding additional charge since January 1, 2026. Rao will continue as Director General of CID Crime and Jails.
Malik's appointment will also lead to the selection of a new Ahmedabad Police Commissioner, a post he held before his elevation.
A native of Faridabad in Haryana, Malik is an Electrical Engineering graduate from Banaras Hindu University and a law graduate from Gujarat University. He began his IPS career as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Bhuj and later served as Superintendent of Police in Dangs, Porbandar, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad Rural, Bharuch and Kutch. He also headed the Border, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat police ranges.
During his career, Malik served as DCP Crime Branch in Ahmedabad, Additional Commissioner in Ahmedabad and Vadodara, ADC to the Governor of Gujarat, and held senior positions in CID Crime, CID Intelligence, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Prohibition and Excise Department, and the Home Department.
Between 2014 and 2018, he headed the Police Recruitment Board on three occasions and oversaw the recruitment of nearly 24,000 police constables. The recruitment process was completed in less than ten months each time.
On Central deputation, Malik served for nearly four years as Inspector General of the BSF Gujarat Frontier. During this period, he supervised a helicopter-borne operation in the Harami Nala region of Kutch that resulted in the seizure of 11 Pakistani boats and the capture of six Pakistani intruders.
He later served in the CISF as ADG (North) and ADG (Airport Sector) in New Delhi. In 2002, he was part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo, where he worked on investigations related to war crimes.
Before joining the IPS, Malik worked with ONGC at Bombay High and with the Indian Railways.
After returning to Gujarat from Central deputation in July 2023, Malik took charge as Ahmedabad Police Commissioner. He led a large anti-encroachment drive around Chandola Lake, clearing nearly four lakh square metres of government land and removing more than 10,000 illegal structures without any major law-and-order incident.
During his tenure, Ahmedabad expanded its surveillance network through community participation, with more than 24,000 CCTV cameras installed across the city. Over 3,000 cameras were linked directly to police stations and the police control room, in addition to nearly 4,000 government and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation cameras under police monitoring.
Malik has been awarded the police medal for meritorious service and the President's police medal for distinguished service. He has also won medals in horse riding, tent pegging, pistol shooting, tennis, table tennis and golf, and continues to pursue badminton and chess.
Malik now takes charge as Gujarat's top police officer with experience spanning state policing, border security, central forces and international peacekeeping assignments.