Meet IPS Rashmi Shukla, First Woman DGP Of Maharashtra

Rashmi Shukla made history on January 5, becoming Maharashtra's first female officer to be appointed as the Director General of Police. The 1988-batch Indian Police Services officer previously served a central deputation on the Sashastra Seema Bal. The 58-year-old will take over the seat preceded by Rajnish Seth who retired from the post of DGP on December 31, 2023. Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar had temporarily held the additional charge until Shukla took the helm on Friday.

Shukla will hold office till her retirement in July 2024. Earlier this week, IPS Nina Singh from the Rajasthan cadre became the first female officer to head the Central Industry Security Forces. Both these women have made remarkable achievements that mark a milestone for women in the police force.

Rashmi Shukla's Background

Rashmi Shukla was the director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal, which is a Central Armed Police Force that guards the Indo-China border. The Bal was set up in 1963 following the Sino-Indian war of the previous year. Shukla was appointed to the top post in the Bal in March 2023.

Before this, she was appointed as Additional Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in February 2021. Shukla was awarded the President Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2005. She has also served as the Commissioner of Police, in Pune, during which she was embroiled in a phone-tapping controversy.

During her tenure as the Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID), Shukla was accused of secretly tapping the phones of Opposition coalition leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). During the time, Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party was the chief minister, when Shukla was accused of tapping the phones of coalition leaders including Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse.

Three FIRs were filed by the MVA, who accused Shukla of having secret ties with the Fadnavis-led government. Shukla was immediately transferred from her post as chief of the SID to Civil Defence. However, in September 2023, the Bombay High Court quashed two FIRS registered against her in Pune and South Mumbai.