Meet Assam’s first woman IPS officer, a face that Bodo militants fear

Dispur: She leads from the front, fears none and is a major threat to Bodo militants.

Meet Sanjukta Parashar, the first woman IPS in Assam who barring all odds has achieved milestones in fighting Naxals in the thick jungles of the state’s Sonitpur district. She is married to another IAS officer Puru Gupta and has a son. She manages to meet her husband once in two months. 

Sanjukta is also a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Sanjukta Parashar with her son. (Photo: Facebook)

Though she could have opted for a 9-6 job, the fearless officer put nation above everything else.

She was first posted as an Assistant Commandant of Makum in 2008, after which she was immediately dispatched to Udalguri where she was to control the ethnic clash between Bodo and illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

Currently, Superintendent of Police in Sonitpur district, she leads a group of CRPF soldiers, Assam Police commandos into dense jungles, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle while conducting anti-terror operations.

Sanjukta Parashar with her colleagues. (Photo: Facebook)

Last month, Parashar and her team arrested four militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Songbijit (NDFB-S) in Maldang.

It was because of her covert operation that dreaded militants, responsible for the lethal attacks on Army convoys were arrested. 

The conditions under which Parashar and her team operate are territorially hostile. Wild animals, thick forests and tough terrain are obstacles that her team has to deal with, apart from fighting insurgents.

Arms and ammunition recovered during one of her anti-terror operations in Tezpur. (Photo: Facebook)

She has been involved in the anti-Bodo militant operations in the area for the past 15 months. She has not only made impressive recoveries of arms and ammunition from the area, but has also gunned down 16 militants and arrested 64 others in the past few months.

She has also received various threats from the NDFB over the months, but that doesn’t deter her goal of fulfilling her duties.