NATIONAL POLICE ACADEMY TO GET ITS FIRST WOMAN CHIEF

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, where Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are trained, is set to get its first woman chief. The Academy, commonly known as NPA, has never had a woman at its helm though the number of women in the IPS has gone up over the years.

Aruna Bahuguna, a 1979-batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, is tipped to be posted as the director of the Academy, said a source. She is currently the special director-general of the CRPF, second only to the chief of the country's largest paramilitary force in hierarchy.

She is also the first woman to be posted as an SDG in the CRPF, which is the nodal agency for anti-Naxal operations.

A senior MHA official said order for Bahuguna's appointment is likely to be issued soon. The NPA director is an IPS officer of the rank of director-general. The director's post fell vacant last month after the incumbent, Subhas Goswami was posted as the ITBP chief.

Bahuguna's husband, S Jayaraman, is also an IPS officer who retired in September as special secretary (internal security) in the Union home ministry. The SS (IS) is lying vacant since then.

On Thursday, the Centre appointed Arvind Ranjan as chief for the Central Industrial Security Force. A 1977-batch IPS office of Kerala cadre, Ranjan was heading the National Security Guard (NSG) and holding additional charge of the CISF after its chief retired in October.

Assam Police chief Jayanto Narayan Choudhury will take over as chief of NSG, the premier counter-terrorism force. An IPS officer of 1978 batch, Choudhury had a long stint in the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Before taking over as Assam DGP, he was joint-director of IB in West Bengal at a time when the state saw a transition — from the 34-year Left Front rule to Trinamool Congress sweeping to power.

Both Ranjan and Choudhury retire in 2015.