Who is Satish Golcha, new Delhi Police chief appointed after attack on CM Rekha Gupta?

Delhi has got a new police chief a day after a man from Gujarat attacked Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Satish Golcha has been appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner, replacing senior IPS officer Shashi Bhushan Kumar Singh.

The development comes after questions were raised about the security of the chief minister. Gupta’s security has also been boosted after she was targeted on Wednesday (August 20).

Let’s take a closer look.

What happened?

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta was slapped during a Jan Sunwai, or public hearing, at her Civil Lines Camp Office, adjacent to her official residence, on Wednesday morning.

According to sources in the Delhi BJP, the accused first gave some papers to the chief minister and then allegedly assaulted her. Gupta was taken to a hospital and is reported to have sustained injuries to her hand, shoulder and head.

The attacker has been identified as 41-year-old Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai Sakriya , who resided with his wife, son and parents in Gujarat’s Rajkot city. He has been sent to five days of police custody.

His mother, Bhanuben Sakaria, told the media that her son was an animal lover who went to Delhi to protest against the recent Supreme Court order to relocate all stray dogs from the streets of the national capital to shelters.

Delhi’s new Police Chief

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday appointed Satish Golcha as the new Delhi Police Commissioner. A 1992-batch IPS officer from the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories) cadre, he is currently serving as Director General of Prisons.

“With the approval of the competent authority, Shri Satish Golcha, IPS (AGMUT 1992), presently posted as Director General (Prisons), Delhi, is hereby appointed to the post of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, with effect from the date of assumption of charge and until further orders,” the ministry said in a notification.

Born on April 30, 1967, Golcha has also served as the Special Commissioner (Intelligence) in the Delhi Police and the Director General of Police (DGP) in Arunachal Pradesh.

He was the Special Commissioner of Police during the North East Delhi riots in 2020. Golcha was appointed Director General (Prisons) last year.

Delhi’s new police chief has two sons, with one of them running his own startup, reported Indian Express.

Golcha has replaced Shashi Bhushan Kumar Singh as the Delhi Police chief. Singh, the Director General of Home Guards, was made the Delhi Police Commissioner on August 1, following the retirement of his predecessor, Sanjay Arora.

Singh is a 1988 batch IPS officer, also from the AGMUT cadre.

Delhi CM’s security beefed up

After the attack, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) took charge of the Delhi CM’s security from the Delhi Police late Wednesday night. It is providing ‘Z’ category security cover to Gupta.

As per an Indian Express source, the CRPF was handed over the Delhi CM’s security after an initial probe found major security lapses behind Wednesday’s incident. The security personnel of the Delhi Police have also been accused of inaction when the attack occurred.

CM Gupta has reacted to the attack and said such incidents cannot break her resolve to serve the public.

“Naturally, I was in shock after this attack, but I am feeling better now. I request all my well-wishers to please not bother to meet me. I will be seen working among you very soon. Such attacks can never break my spirit and resolve to serve the public,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Now I will be among you with more energy and dedication than ever before. Jan Sunwai and resolving public problems will continue with the same seriousness and commitment as before. Your trust and support is my biggest strength,” she added.

A delegation of all seven Delhi BJP MPs called on Gupta on Thursday and said she will resume work soon.

Talking to reporters, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Road Transport & Highways, Harsh Malhotra, dismissed any security breach in the lead-up to the incident. “She is doing fine. She will resume her scheduled events either from today or tomorrow. There was no security breach. The security personnel do their job with full perfection. As public representatives, we also tell our personnel to let people and party workers meet us,” he said.

With inputs from agencies