The Uttar Pradesh government paved the way for 1994-batch IPS officer and Kanpur Commissioner of Police Asim Arun (51) to start his new political inning and the officer is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party by January 15.
Arun had sought voluntary retirement from service which was accepted by the UP government on Monday. Arun is likely to contest from Sadar assembly seat in his home town Kannauj on a BJP ticket.
On Saturday, Arun took to Facebook to announce that he has applied for voluntary retirement and said he was “proud” that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath considered him fit for the membership of the BJP. He was earlier the ADG of UP 112 emergency services.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the ADG rank officer said that he wanted to serve the country in a new form. He said that he would try and utilise his skills and experience in the police force to serve the BJP. He also paid a tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar for the trajectory of his career, in a subtle acknowledgement of his caste background as a Dalit.
"The IPS job and now this honour have been possible due to the system crafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar for 'equality of opportunity'. I will follow his high ideals and work for the honour, security and uplift of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as brothers and sisters of all sections," Arun said.
In a career spanning over 26 years, Arun enjoyed the reputation of being an innovative officer and served in various capacities, including SSP of Agra, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, Hathras and Siddharth Nagar. He also served as SP in Garhwal (then under UP). Before taking over as the first commissioner of police of Kanpur, he was posted as ADG - 112 Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, he was the chief of UP ATS too.
Arun also underwent a commando training course in National Security Guard (NSG) Academy and served as head of prime minister's close protection team during Manmohan Singh’s tenure.
A native of Kannauj in central UP, Arun is the son of Sri Ram Arun Ram, who also served as the DGP of UP Police in the 1990’s.