O P Singh takes charge as Uttar Pradesh's new DGP; bats for professional policing

LUCKNOW: After a flip-flop for 23 days, finally O P Singh, a 1983-batch IPS officer, joined as the new deputy general of police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh here on Tuesday. Singh, who had been on central deputation for the last four years, was relieved and repatriated by Union home ministry on Sunday. He is the third DGP of 10-month-old Yogi government. Before him, Javeed Ahmed and Sulkhan Singh served on the post.

Spelling out his priorities to media persons immediately after assuming the charge, DGP O P Singh’s thrust was on professional policing in Uttar Pradesh. Refusing to review the encounter policy of Yogi Adityanath government, the new DGP asserted that criminals would be suitably responded if they would fire on police. 

In the same vein, he batted for implementation of police commissioner system in the state. "I am in favour of implementing police commissionary system in the state. A proposal has been sent to the Centre in this regard. I will check its status and discuss it with the state government also,” he said.

Acknowledging the huge challenges he had to factor in a state like Uttar Pradesh, DGP Singh said his first priority would be to make the people, including women, girls, children and deprived, secure in the state.

“It is a matter of pride for me to head the largest and one of the most decorated police forces of the country.  Huge tasks are there at hand and my first responsibility will be to fine-tune the service delivery system of my force,” he said.

“The need is to inculcate the emotion of security among the people of the state,” stated the new DGP.

Reassuring the team of officers, he expressed confidence in their capabilities and hoped that he would be able to streamline the law and order machinery in UP with the support of everyone.

On the series of dacoities which has rocked the state capital and adjoining areas during the last three days, DGP O P Singh said society had always been crime prone but it was the responsibility of the police department to take necessary steps and rein in the criminals and combat crime swiftly.

Appreciating the efforts of his predecessors to improve law and order, O P Singh said he would try to expedite the process further. “My priority is to bring the criminals to books. To fulfil this commitment, we will do everything that is needed. If the criminals will fire on us, we also know how to handle them,” he remarked in response to a query over the ongoing encounters in UP.

He vowed to reduce the ‘response time’ of the police to sustain the trust of the common man in the system and also touched the issue of police probes saying it would be seen that investigations were detailed and quality would be ensured in probe analysis.

Responding to a query over the upcoming release of ‘Padmavat’, the new DGP assured appropriate action at appropriate time. “I shall abide by the Supreme Court order over the issue and do the needful as per the situation,” he said.

He also stressed on the need of improving traffic system across the state to ensure road safety. “I will work in this direction constantly to minimise the road related incidents,” he stated.

Singh, a gallantry medal winner, had been heading the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) since September 2016. He has replaced Sulkhan Singh who retired on December 30, 2017 in Lucknow.

Hailing from Gaya district of Bihar, O P Singh has served as Lucknow SSP thrice. Besides, he was DIG Azamgarh and Moradabad range and IG Meerut zone before proceeding on central deputation.