KATHMANDU, MARCH 24
The government has decided to elevate Additional Inspector General of Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar to the post of inspector general of police.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers held in Singha Durbar today endorsed the Minister of Home's proposal to make AIG Kunwar the successor of IGP Dhiraj Pratap Singh, who automatically retired from Nepal Police with effect from today as per the 30-year service limit stipulated in theexisting Police Rules. Outgoing IGP Singh was appointed police chief on 1 May 2022.
An official source at the MoHA claimed that there was no dispute over the promotion of Kunwar to the rank of IGP, as he stood first in the merit list.
As the 30th IGP, Kunwar will command a force of over 80,000 till 19 March 2025 in line with the regulatory 30- year service term.
Kunwar, who joined the police force on 1 May 1995 as inspector, left his four competitors - AIGs Tek Prasad Rai, Deepak Thapa, Shyam Lal Gyawali and Kiran Bajracharya, who were also vying for the post of police chief - behind in the race for the post of top cop.
Currently, he was heading Madhes Province.
Kunwar war born on 28 March 1970 in Arghakhanchi district. With a Master's degree in business administration from Tribhuvan University, he has led various units of Nepal Police, in addition to being spokesperson for the security body.
Talking to mediapersons, Kunwar said he would continue with the priorities set by the security agency earlier and clean up the anomalies inherent in it.
Home Secretary Binod Prakash Singh is scheduled to confer insignia of IGP on Kunwar tomorrow.
A security expert said the new police chief would face challenges such as boosting the morale of the security agency as a whole, maintaining peace and security amid political instability, and combating political interference in the police department.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 25, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
