Hyderabad: Sampat Meena, a 1994 batch IPS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, is at the helm of the high-profile investigation of the sensational Unnao rape case.
Ms Meena, presently joint director of the CBI Lucknow zone, is a strong advocate of women’s issues and human rights and has done remarkable work in the field of child trafficking.
She was the first woman IPS officer to be posted as senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.
With the Supreme Court on Thursday directing the CBI to complete the trial in the case within 45 days, Ms Meena will be racing against time to complete the investigation.
This has triggered massive public outrage as it is seen as an attempt to intimidate the young girl and her family.
Sources told this newspaper that Ms Meena was the key official who launched “Operation Muskaan” — an initiative of the Union home ministry — to rescue and rehabilitate missing children. Under her supervision as IG (organised crime), CID, in Jharkhand, the police teams rescued over 700 children and reunited them with their parents.
“Though Operation Muskaan was a nationwide drive, it was due to the efforts of Ms Meena that it was taken up in Jharkhand in a big way. In fact, Jharkhand was the first state to take up this initiative,” a senior IPS officer said.
A post-graduate in history from Delhi University, Ms Meena was instrumental in launching child- friendly police stations in Jharkhand, and had previously worked in Naxal-affected districts of the state. She was SP of Dhanbad, Ranchi, Deoghar, and Jamtara. She was the first woman IPS officer to be posted as SSP, Ranchi.
For her outstanding contribution to policing, she was awarded the Jharkhand chief minister’s medal for meritorious services in the year 2000.
In 2013, she received the President’s Police Medal for meritorious services. Prior to her posting as CBI joint director, Lucknow zone, Ms Meena was posted as IG in the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) in New Delhi where she continued to work towards issues of child trafficking.
