Soumen Mitra

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Soumen Mitra
38th
Anuj Sharma
Succeeded byVineet Kumar Goyal
In office
13 April 2016 – 21 May 2016
Preceded byRajeev Kumar
Succeeded byRajeev Kumar
Personal details
Born (1961-12-16) 16 December 1961 (age 63)
Nationality
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • Presidency College, Kolkata
  • St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata
    • Police career
    ServiceIndian Police Service
    DepartmentWest Bengal Police Kolkata Police
    Service years1988–2021
    StatusRetired
    Badge no.19881066[1]
    Awards President's Police Medal (for Distinguished Service)
    Police Medal for Meritorious Service
    50th Anniversary Independence Medal

    Soumen Mitra (born 16 December 1961) is an Indian police officer, who served as the 38th

    Police Commissioner of Kolkata. Mitra started his police career as a probation officer in Darjeeling as part of the 1988 batch of police officers in the Indian Police Service. Throughout his career he served as a police superintendent in Barrackpore, Howrah and Murshidabad, and deputy commissioner of the detective department in Kolkata, where he led investigations into the 2002 attack on the American Culture Centre and the 2001 Kolkata Stock Exchange scam
    .

    Mitra served as Police Commissioner of Kolkata twice, first appointed by the

    Police Medal
    for outstanding service in August 2021. He is also known for his interest in heritage conservation, having helped restore several historical structures in Kolkata.

    Early life and career

    Born in 1961,

    Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, completing his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy. A history graduate,[3] he qualified for the Civil Services examinations and was inducted into the Indian Police Service, belonging to the 1988-batch in the West Bengal cadre.[4] Initially, he started out as a probation officer in Darjeeling before being appointed the assistant commissioner of police operations in Darjeeling. Subsequently, Mitra went on to hold other roles, acting as a police superintendent under the West Bengal Police in Barrackpore, Howrah and Murshidabad.[5] During this time, he developed a reputation for starting welfare and development projects in areas where he was posted. He is credited with starting the Chandradeep Mela, an annual social event in Hariharpara, an area that was known for having a high rate of communal violence. The introduction of the social event helped stabilize the political atmosphere in the area.[3]

    Mitra was transferred to the Kolkata Police to serve as a deputy commissioner for the detective department. He helped lead the police team in investigating the attack on the American Culture Centre in Kolkata in 2002[6][7] and helped investigate the Kolkata Stock Exchange scam perpetrated in 2001.[8][9][10] Later, he was appointed as the additional director general in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police.[5][11]

    Police Commissioner (2016)

    In the run up to the

    poll violence and was credited with ensuring a smooth election.[14][15] Subsequently, after the Trinamool government came back to power with a landslide victory, Soumen Mitra was removed from his post as Police Commissioner and was appointed as the Additional Director General of Police, Training Branch.[16]

    Police Commissioner (2021)

    In February 2021, Mitra was again appointed as the Police Commissioner of the Kolkata Police in the period prior to the

    Police Medal for outstanding service to the West Bengal government.[19] Mitra continued being the police commissioner after the conclusion of the elections until he retired from the Indian Police Service in December 2021.[20]

    Other interests

    Mitra has an interest in heritage structures.[21] In 2004, Mitra helped rescue and restore a run-down building on Ripon Street. The building had once been occupied by a monk who sought to claim the identity of a wealthy landlord through a series of legal battles, which were dubbed the Bhawal case.[22] In 2015, he helped restore the Police Training School which had previously served as one of India's first mental asylums and built in a unique architecture style that was pioneered by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century.[23][21][24]

    Literary works

    Mitra's M Phil dissertation has been published as a book entitled In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta, 1880–1950.[14]

    In 2019 he collaborated with his wife, Monabi Mitra, in writing Under The Banyan Tree: The Forgotten Story of Barrackpore Park, narrating the two hundred year-old history of Government House Barrackpore.[14][25]

    Personal life

    Soumen Mitra is married and resides in Kolkata. His wife, Monabi Mitra, is a professor of English and a crime novelist.[26]

    References

    1. ^ "IPS CIVIL LIST 2014". 2014. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
    2. ^ "No.I-21023/04/2011-IPS-IV - Government of India - Ministry of Home Affairs" (PDF). ips.gov.in. 3 August 2011.
    3. ^ a b Chaudhuri, Monalisa (7 February 2021). "Soumen Mitra returns as city police chief, replaces Anuj Sharma". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    4. ^ Banerjee, Kaushikibrata (26 January 2023). "'Serving our own men on behalf of govt can be very satisfying'". www.millenniumpost.in. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    5. ^ a b MP, Team (7 February 2021). "Soumen Mitra becomes new Kolkata Police Commissioner". www.millenniumpost.in. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    6. ^ "USIS attack: Police still puzzled about motive for attack on American Center in Kolkata". India Today. 4 February 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    7. ^ "Kolkata, Howrah, Salt Lake get new police commissioners ahead of assembly polls". Hindustan Times. 6 February 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    8. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived
      from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    9. ^ "Former CSE president arrested". Rediff. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    10. ^ "Calcutta Stock Exchange payment crisis: Lending brokers arrested but may be too late". India Today. 2 December 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    11. ^ PTI (13 April 2016). "Soumen Mitra Takes Over as Kolkata Police Commissioner". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    12. ^ "'Bias' Kumar gets the boot". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
    13. ^ "Kolkata Police Chief Rajeev Kumar Removed By Election Commission". NDTV. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    14. ^ a b c Ganguly, Arnab (10 August 2021). "Police commissioner Soumen Mitra tops Mamata's I-Day medals list". The Telegraph (India). Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    15. ^ "Last action hero: Why Kolkatans should be proud of police commissioner Soumen Mitra". Firstpost. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    16. ^ "Rajeev Kumar reinstated as Kolkata Police chief after Mamata's return". The Indian Express. 22 May 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    17. ^ Bhandari, Shashwat (9 September 2021). "Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra promoted to DGP rank by Bengal government". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    18. ^ IANS (11 August 2021). "Kolkata top cop Soumen Mitra selected for Police Medal". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    19. ^ "Kolkata Top Cop, 2 Other IPS Officers To Get Medal For Outstanding Service". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    20. ^ "Vineet Kumar Goyal appointed new Kolkata Police commissioner". India Today. 31 December 2021. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    21. ^ a b Mitra, Soumen (24 August 2023). "Remembrances and revisitations: Restoring colonial buildings in Kolkata". The Telegraph (India). Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    22. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived
      from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    23. ^ Chakrabarty, Saionee (12 January 2021). "Narayan Sinha's public art pays tribute to Kolkata". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    24. ISSN 0971-751X
      . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
    25. ^ Saha, Shrestha (28 November 2019). "Travelogues to read this week". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
    26. ^ Ghose, Chandrayee; Chauduri, Trina (29 December 2013). "Confessions of a crime writer". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 15 July 2024.
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