Bhubaneswar: Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, a 1990 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was on Friday appointed as the new Odisha Director General (DG) of Police.
Khurania took charge of his new responsibility from acting DGP Arun Sarangi at a special function held in the evening at state police headquarters in Cuttack.
In the morning, a formal notification with regard to appointment of the new DGP was issued by the state government.
On August 13, Khurania had met Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi in New Delhi, fueling speculations about his appointment as the next DGP of the state.
The Union government had recently approved premature repatriation of Khurania to his parent cadre Odisha with immediate effect. He was serving as Special Director General, Border Security Force (BSF). His premature repatriation had fuelled speculation that he might take over as the next DGP of the state.
Arun Kumar Sarangi had been functioning as acting DGP since December 31, 2023.
The newly appointed DGP was serving as Additional DGP (Provisioning) in Odisha before proceeding on his Central deputation. He had earlier held several important posts in Odisha and served as superintendent of police (SP) of Nayagarh, Jajpur, Rourkela, Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts.
He also served as DIG (Southern Range and Northern Range), Addl Commissioner of Police and Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack. He was also the director, Biju Patnaik State Police Academy and Training-Cum Inspector General Training (BPSPA-cum-IG Training).
According to sources, the Odisha state police headquarters had earlier asked 1989-batch officers Arun Ray and S M Narvane and 1990-batch officer Y B Khurania to furnish their biodatas “covering all the points in the prescribed format, including academic achievements” for submission to state home department. The biodatas were sought as a precursor to convening of a meeting of the Empanelment Committee, which will recommend three names to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for picking up one of the three to take over as the next DGP of Odisha.
YB Khurania now has a tough challenge to take Odisha police forward and ensure the new government’s image intact.
