Soon after being appointed as new police commissioner of the twin city on Monday, 1986 batch IPS officer Rajendra Prasad Sharma, who was in Central deputation since September 7, 2004, assumed office on Tuesday. He became the fourth officer to hold the top post of the commissionerate police replacing Sunil Ray.
Attending a Press meet, the new police commissioner said that prevention and detection of crimes would be his top priority and he would try his best to give maximum security to the women and senior citizen of the city. Sharma said that he would give special attention to controlling illegal gun trading, extortion related crime and other petty crimes.
“We will go strong against the street criminals and organised criminal syndicates,” he said. Sharma said that he would try to strengthen manpower for functioning of the Commissionerate Police system well. He also emphasised on community policing and people-friendly police in the twin-city. Sharma who was continuing as IGP, National Security Guard, has served as an ‘anti-corruption and crime prevention expert’ with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He has also served with the UN Peacekeeping Mission. Sharma was SP of Baleswar, Kalahandi and Brahmapur and DIG (central range) before leaving on central deputation.