Shot in the arm for UP police digital cop

In the list of 25 officers who got promotions last week was one that went unnoticed: the induction of the digital face of Uttar Pradesh Police, Rahul Srivastav, in the elite Indian Police Service (IPS). What has come as a reward to Rahul from the Yogi Adityanath Government is his most significant contribution in building UP Police’s presence across major digital platforms. He led the launch of UP Police on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram, introduced citizen-centric digital services and developed systems for online grievance redressal and social media sentiment analysis. He also established an integrated social and electronic media monitoring centre to support real-time analysis and coordinated responses.

A third-generation uniformed person in the family, Rahul first headed the UP Police social media initiative between 2016 and 2019 before returning to the role in May 2025, and has since been serving as Public Relations Officer and Social Media Head of Uttar Pradesh Police.