Senior IPS officer Prakash Mishra on Monday took over as the new chief of the world’s biggest paramilitary force CRPF, which is also the designated agency for counter terror, anti-insurgency and anti-Naxal operations across the country. Mishra, a former Odisha police chief and 1977-batch IPS officer, took charge at the Central Reserve Police Force headquarters here after his name was announced for the post by the Government on Saturday.
He will serve a tenure of over 14 months at the top post till February 2016. Mishra was till now serving as the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry.The post of CRPF Director General was vacant after incumbent Dilip Trivedi retired on November 30.Mishra’s experience as the police chief of Odisha will come handy as he had himself spearheaded the anti-Naxal operations in the State that is affected by the ultra-left extremism. The force is facing a number of challenges, especially in the left Wing Extremism theatre. Three committees have been formed by the government in the recent past to fine-tune the operational efficacy and modernisation of the paramilitary force.