Senior IPS officer Alok Verma will take over as the Delhi Police commissioner from Monday – the day when BS Bassi retires. Verma was posted as director general of the Tihar Prisons and is likely to serve the national Capital as police chief for 17 months.
Verma has taken charge as the Delhi Police chief in the wake of a controversy over alleged anti-India slogans raised during a protest march at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the subsequent police crackdown.
During Bassi’s tenure, the police have received a lot of flak for allegedly going slow against those, who attacked mediapersons and JNU students – including JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar – at the Patiala House Courts.
Verma became the director general (DG) of Tihar Prisons on August 6, 2014.
A 1979-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, Verma was posted as special commissioner of police (CP), administration, with Delhi Police.
Verma has held many posts in Delhi Police, after he joined the AGMUT cadre. He was the deputy commissioner of police, south district, before being deployed on central deputation. He served as the Inspector General of Police in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, before returning to the Delhi Police.
Verma was appointed the joint commissioner of police, crime and joint CP, New Delhi range, before moving to Puducherry as the director general of police (DGP). He returned to Delhi Police as special CP (intelligence), and later served as special CP, vigilance, as well.