After months of Centre-State tussle, Jharkhand top cop Anurag Gupta finally resigns

Ranchi, Nov 5 Jharkhand's Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta, whose appointment led to a tussle between the Centre and the state government, has tendered his resignation, highly-placed government sources said on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Gupta submitted his resignation at the Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence late on Tuesday evening.

While the state government has not yet issued an official announcement, the sources confirmed that his resignation was accepted on Wednesday, with instructions to continue in office until a successor is appointed.

The sudden development has intensified high-level consultations in the state government regarding Gupta’s replacement. Senior IPS officers Prashant Singh and M.S. Bhatia are among the front-runners being considered for the top post, official sources said.

A 1990-batch IPS officer, Gupta was elevated to the rank of Director General in 2022 and later served as DG, Training. On July 26, 2024, the Jharkhand government appointed him as Acting DGP.

However, just ahead of the Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India removed him from the post. The Hemant Soren government reinstated him as Acting DGP on November 28, 2024, immediately after the poll process ended.

Gupta’s appointment became the centre of a long-drawn stand-off between the state government, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and the Union Home Ministry.

Under the new Jharkhand state rules for the DGP’s appointment, the government appointed Gupta as regular DGP for a fixed two-year tenure on February 2 this year, extending it up to February 2027 -- well beyond his scheduled retirement on April 30, 2025, when he would turn 60.

The Union Home Ministry objected to the extension, insisting that the state must follow the Supreme Court-mandated process routed through the UPSC.

The Centre wrote twice to the state government, urging Gupta’s removal, but the state cited its newly-framed rules to retain him.

The UPSC also refused to endorse his appointment as regular DGP, escalating the matter.

Gupta had earlier held key assignments, including DGP, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), and CID chief.

In September, the state government divested him of the ACB portfolio, fuelling speculation that his exit was imminent.

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