By Shambhavi Singh
Pankaj Singh, a senior IPS officer, was named director-general of the Border Security Force (BSF) on August 25, 2021, succeeding his father Prakash Singh, who held the position for over three decades.
Pankaj Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre, took over as BSF head on August 31, according to an official order. He is now assigned to the BSF headquarters in Delhi as the special director-general.
Following the retirement of IPS officer and Indo-Tibetan Border Police Director General (DG) SS Deswal, 58-year-old Pankaj Singh assumed command.
Pankaj’s father, Prakash Singh, who is known for introducing several police reforms was awarded the Padma Shri. He had also served as the BSF DG from 1993-94. The Border Security Force guards over 6,300 km of India’s fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh and has about 2.65 lakh officers.
Pankaj Singh has also served in the Rajasthan Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his tenure in the CBI, he cracked an infamous sex scandal that had rocked Jammu and Kashmir besides being involved in solving several cases related to corruption.
The people arrested during this politically sensitive sex scandal in Jammu and Kashmir were a serving minister, several high-profile bureaucrats, and other individuals.
Pankaj Singh has also served as the inspector general of Jaipur and head of the crime branch. During this, he along with his team had cracked the nexus between gun manufacturers, bureaucrats, and gangsters in Jammu and Kashmir for giving out arms licenses without any proper verification.
Pankaj Singh will retire from the post of BSF DG in December next year.