Senior UP cadre IPS officer Alok Sharma appointed SPG director

Senior IPS officer Alok Sharma was additional director general of the SPG and was overseeing the force following the death of SPG chief Arun Kumar Sinha in September

NEW DELHI: Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alok Sharma was on Friday appointed as director of the Special Protection Group (SPG), the elite security unit responsible for the security of the Prime Minister.

The SPG is responsible for the security of the Prime Minister (FILE PHOTO)

A government order said Sharma’s appointment had been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Alok Sharma, an Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, is currently the additional director general of SPG and has been overseeing the force after SPG director Arun Kumar Sinha died at a Gurugram hospital on September 6. Sinha was the longest-serving chief of the SPG (2016-2023).

Friday’s order does not stipulate the duration of Sharma’s new assignment. It said he would continue till further orders.