Nalin Prabhat to head J&K police at a crucial juncture

Srinagar: Senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat, a veteran of the anti-Naxal Greyhounds and CRPF, currently with the AP cadre, has been appointed Special Director General of Police (SDG) of Jammu and Kashmir till September 30, after which he will replace DGP R.R. Swain to head the 83,000-strong uniformed force which is under the control of the Union home ministry.

Prabhat, a 1992-batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been shifted to the AGMUT cadre on inter-cadre deputation and will immediately take over as the SDG, official sources here said.

His tenure as DGP will begin on October 1, and will continue till further orders, the sources said. Swain superannuates on September 30.

Prabhat has worked as the additional director-general in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and held senior positions in other forces across the country. In April this year, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed him the chief of National Security Guard (NSG), the country's counter-terrorism force, for a period up to August 31, 2028, which is the date of his superannuation.

He took over as the DG of the NSG on May 1, 2024, but his tenure was cut short by the ACC for his deputation to the AGMUT cadre. On Wednesday, the committee sanctioned his inter-state deputation to the AGMUT for a tenure of three years.

Prabhat is a highly decorated IPS officer. He has won the police medal for gallantry with second bar thrice, Parakram Padak (wound medal), Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Antrik Suraksha Padak (AP), Antrik Suraksha Padak (J&K) and Police (Special Duty) Medal with Bar (J&K).

Prabhat was born on June 14, 1968 in Thungri village in the Rupa circle of West Kameng district in AP. He completed his BA (Honours) and obtained a master’s degree from St. Stephen’s College

Prabhat is an anti-Naxal and anti-terrorism specialist and has been appointed as the SDG of J&K at a time when parts of the Union Territory are witnessing a noticeable resurgence of militancy with twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri and the Chenab valley in the Jammu region becoming the epicentre of deadly terror attacks.

It is believed that the Centre wants to utilise his extensive experience towards effectively dealing with terrorism. “Also, the Assembly elections in J&K are likely to be held later this year after a gap of over a decade, a time when the region’s main law enforcing agency would need an experienced and fairly successful hand with great leaderships skills to lead it”, said a retire police chief of the erstwhile state.

Prabhat has served in erstwhile state of J&K earlier also as IG (Operations Kashmir) CRPF, DIG CRPF (South Kashmir), DIG Intelligence and Training CRPF (Srinagar sector), Commandant ITBP (Srinagar and Ladakh) and in some other capacities. He had also headed the specialised anti-Naxal police force 'Greyhounds' in Andhra Pradesh.