Who is Sundarraj P? Bastar’s longest-serving IPS officer now joins NIA

The Union government has appointed Sundarraj P, the longest-serving IPS officer in Chhattisgarh’s Maoism hit Bastar region, as an inspector general in the federal anti-terror probe organisation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A letter issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 16 June to the Chhattisgarh government said the 2003-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer is being deputed to the federal agency following approval from the competent authority.

The communication asked the Chhattisgarh government to release the 46-year-old officer immediately to enable him to take up his new assignment at the Centre.

Who is Sundarraj P?

Sundarraj P (Sundarraj Pattilingam) has served for a total of 12 years in the Bastar region, including seven continuously as the police chief of the range comprising seven districts of south Chhattisgarh, the most Maoist-violence-affected regions of the country until recently.

Sundarraj P is credited with playing a vital role in supervising anti-Naxal operations undertaken by security forces, including coordination with central paramilitary forces, which led to meeting the Union government’s deadline of ending Maoist from the region and the country by 31 March this year.

Sundarraj P was the authority and constant face for interaction with the press when the security forces achieved successes or suffered losses during anti-Maoist operations over the last many years, news agency PTI said.

MHA is learnt to have made a ‘special recommendation’ to depute Sundarraj to the NIA in appreciation of his hard work and leadership in operations against the Maoists in Bastar.

Amit Shah declares India Maoism free

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 18 May announced that the country was ‘free’ from Maoism.

“I am declaring with pride, India is now Naxal-free,” Shah said in Bastar, where he was on his first visit after March 31, a date the Centre had earlier set as a deadline to eliminate Left-wing extremism from the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah: ‘I am declaring with pride, India is now Naxal-free.’

A native of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Sundarraj holds a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture science He studied at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, completing a degree in agriculture before shifting his focus to civil services before shifting his focus to civil services.