Who is Manoj Kumar Verma, Kolkata's new police commissioner?

Manoj Kumar Verma, who will be replacing Vineet Goyal was previously the Additional Director General (law and order).

The West Bengal government on Tuesday appointed 1998 batch IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner.

Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal is being replaced by Manoj Kumar Verma, formerly the Additional Director General (ADG) and Inspector-general of police (law and order)(ANI)

Verma's appointment comes a day after a meeting between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and protesting junior doctors. The CM announced that Vineet Goyal would step down as the city top cop.

Vineet Goyal was made the ADG and Inspector general of West Bengal police's Special Task Force (STF).

Here is everything we know about Manoj Kumar Verma, the new police commissioner:

Early Life

Manoj Kumar Verma primarily studied in Kendriya Vidyalayas in different locations and military school in Belgaum, Karnataka due to his father's job in the Indian Army, he revealed in an interview on Facebook.

Verma graduated from Engineering college, Kota with a degree in mechanical engineering. He started studying for civil service exams soon after and became part of the 1998 IPS batch at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

Career

Verma served police commissioner of Siliguri for a while before he was transferred and appointed Inspector General (IG) of Traffic in West Bengal in 2016.

He also held the position of Inspector general of police (IGP), Darjeeling in 2017 and ADG and Inspector general of the Intelligence Bureau.

In January 2024 he was appointed as the Additional Director General (ADG), law and order, reported news agency PTI.

Now, Jawed Shamim, an IPS officer of the 1995 batch, will take over his position as the ADG and Inspector general (law and order), while Manoj Kumar Verma becomes Kolkata's police commissioner.

As West Bengal ADG (law and order), Manoj Kumar Verma ran afoul of protestors in the Nabanna Abhijan rally, for terming the march “illegal” and calling it an attempt to incite unrest.

Verma had vowed to put the safety of the public and students giving NTA exams above the protests, which he claimed were taking place without the necessary permissions.