Dr Sanjukta Parashar, a 2006-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has taken over as the Inspector General of the Central Reserve Police Force's elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA).
Sanjukta, popularly known as the “Iron Lady of Assam,” is the first woman officer to command the specialised jungle-warfare force.
An alumnus of Delhi University and JNU, Parashar succeeded 1996-batch IPS officer Danesh Rana.
Parashar secured All India Rank 85 in the 2005 UPSC Civil Services Examination and could have easily become IAS officer. But she chose to become IPS to be the first Assamese woman IPS officer posted directly in home cadre.
As a police officer, she handled multiple encounters and counter insurgency operations including ethnic clashes.
As Superintendent of Police in Sonitpur, she led 16 major encounter operations in 15 months, in which 16 militants were killed and 64 arrested.
She also worked with National Investigation Agency, handling national-security and counter-terrorism investigations as Deputy Inspector General.
What is CoBRA?
CoBRA, or Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, was raised by the CRPF in 2008–09 to conduct intelligence-based jungle and guerrilla warfare against Left Wing Extremism in several states and against insurgency in parts of the Northeast. Its commandos are trained for long-range operations in dense forests, ambushes and counter-ambushes, IED threats, and precision action against armed militants. The unit has operated extensively in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Alok Mathur is a law graduate. Journalism is his first love which he now pursues in the latter half of his career. Controversies and crime are the right triggers for him.
