Director of Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for providing proximate security to the Prime Minister of India, Arun Kumar Sinha on Wednesday passed away after brief illness. He was 61.
SPG chief with PM Modi
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A 1987 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer, Sinha was the additional director general of police (special service and traffic) in the state before he was made the head SPG, a position that remained vacant for around 15 months before his joining.
Sinha was re-employed as DG (SPG) a day before his scheduled superannuation on May 31 this year, after the Appointments Committee (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal. As a temporary upgradation, ACC had cleared an extension of his service last year.
Established in 1985, the SPG is an elite force that is specially tasked to provide protection to country's current and former Prime Ministers and their immediate family members. It was formed in the wake of former PM Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.
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