Ladakh Police Chief Mukesh Singh Appointed Manipur Top Cop

In a major administrative reshuffle amid the continuing security challenges in Manipur, the Centre has appointed Manipur Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Singh as Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat, while senior IPS officer Mukesh Singh has been named the new police chief of the state.

Mukesh Singh, a 1996-batch IPS officer of the AGMUT cadre, is currently serving as the DGP of Ladakh. An IIT Delhi graduate in Civil Engineering, the officer has extensive experience in counter-insurgency and anti-terror operations. He earlier served with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and was closely involved in operations related to militancy and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) cleared the appointment of Singh on inter-cadre deputation from the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories) cadre to the Manipur cadre for a tenure of three years. The order was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

According to the official notification, the appointment has been approved "as a special case in public interest" with relaxation of normal inter-cadre deputation norms and waiver of the mandatory cooling-off period following central deputation.

Security experts view Singh's appointment as a significant move by the Centre at a time Manipur continues to battle ethnic tensions and a fragile law-and-order situation.

Outgoing Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh, a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Tripura cadre, had taken charge of the state police force on June 1, 2023, during one of the most turbulent phases in Manipur's history. He was brought in at the peak of the ethnic violence that erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, replacing then police chief P Doungel.

Before being posted to Manipur, Rajiv Singh served as Director of Fire and Emergency Services and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) in Tripura. He also held key assignments in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including serving as Inspector General.