The race to become IGP in April is already underway

Published On: July 7, 2022 01:10 PM NPT By: Arun Bam

KATHMANDU, July 7: A meeting of Nepal Police Promotion Recommendation Committee on June 22 recommended the promotion of 17 Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).

SSPs Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, Tek Prasad Rai, Ashok Singh, Deepak Thapa, Shyamlal Gyawali, Kiran Bajracharya, Sandip Bhandari, Sudip Giri, Mira Chaudary, Tek Bahadur Tamang, Umesh Raj Joshi, Shyamprasad Dhakal, Ramdatta Joshi, Poshraj Pokhrel, Budhiraj Gurung, Durga Singh and Kiran Rana have been recommended for the promotion to the rank of DIG.

As per the recommendation, only 17 people who were promoted to DIG were conferred insignia of DIG on Sunday. One of those 17 police officers promoted to DIG has a chance of becoming the IGP after eight months.

The term of IGP Singh comes to an end in the second week of April 2023. According to the Nepal Police Regulations, the maximum service period of a police officer is 30 years and the age limit is 56 years.

Inspector General Singh is leaving office in the second week of April as his service period will reach the 30-year limit. He entered the service on March 25, 1993. The answer to the question of whether he will remain the IGP till March is also in the hands of the Supreme Court. AIG Bishworaj Pokharel has knocked on the court’s door against IGP Singh’s appointment. The issue is under consideration. Regardless of whether the case is decided for or against IGP Singh, there is a strong possibility of a New IGP in the second week of April out of the promoted 17 DIGs. Not only IGP Singh, but all the senior police officers who have just become DIGs have been appointed before April 26 due to some age limit and some due to service period.

The Nepal Police currently has nine AIGs. In which all working AIGs are the batch mates of Singh. Therefore, it is certain that all of them will go on leave before the second week of April.

There are 20 posts of DIG in Nepal Police. Appointments have been made to 17 of them. Purushottam Kandel, Nal Prasad Upadhya and Masaud Alam Khan are also DIGs. These three are batch mates of IGP Singh. Therefore, they will also get leave before March 25. According to a source, there is a strong possibility that one of the remaining 17 DIGs will become the IGP in April next year.