The Chhattisgarh government has appointed 2004-batch IPS officer Badri Narayan Meena to take command of the Bastar range, replacing counter-insurgency veteran Sundarraj P.
RAIPUR, June 25 — The Chhattisgarh government handed command of the Bastar range to a new police chief on Thursday. Officials appointed senior Indian Police Service officer Badri Narayan Meena as the region’s next Inspector General of Police. He’s a 2004-batch officer stepping into one of the country’s most heavily scrutinised security zones. Before this morning’s orders, Meena worked at the Police Headquarters in Nava Raipur. They’ve moved him directly to the frontlines.
Bastar remains the focal point of Chhattisgarh’s anti-Maoist operations, and security analysts don’t view this transfer lightly. The official order directs Meena to assume his responsibilities in Bastar immediately. It’s a clear mandate to tighten regional law enforcement and consolidate recent security gains.
He’s stepping into very big shoes.
The state government had to find a replacement after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs pulled the current Bastar IG, Sundarraj Pattilingam, for a central deputation on June 16. Officials formally named Sundarraj, a 2003-batch IPS officer, as an Inspector General in the National Investigation Agency. He’d served an unusually long tenure in the Left-wing extremism theatre. He spent seven years commanding the police in the Bastar region, actively spearheading counter-insurgency operations across districts like Sukma, Bijapur, and Dantewada. Can Meena replicate that level of embedded, long-term operational success? They’ve got no choice but to find out.
The transition represents a major shift in the state’s security apparatus. Sundarraj isn’t just handing over a desk. He’s leaving behind a massive intelligence network built over a decade of jungle warfare. But the MHA ordered the state to relieve him promptly so he could take up his new anti-terror duties at the NIA. So, the state government finalised its administrative arrangements today, officially placing Meena at the helm.
Meena brings his own extensive administrative experience to the table. He originally hails from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Now, he’ll direct thousands of state police personnel and coordinate with central paramilitary forces in the deepest pockets of Chhattisgarh. You can’t run Bastar from behind a desk.
He’s now racing the clock to prove his grip on the ground.
