Imphal, May 30 (IANS) Senior IPS officer Mukesh Singh, who has been appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Manipur, arrived in Imphal on Saturday and is set to formally assume charge as the state’s police chief on June 1, officials said.

Mukesh Singh will succeed incumbent DGP Rajiv Singh, marking a key leadership transition in the state police force amid ongoing efforts to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur. Singh, before his transfer to Manipur, was the DGP of Ladakh.

Rajiv Singh, a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Tripura cadre, was appointed on May 21 as Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Later, Mukesh Singh met Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh at the Civil Secretariat.

In a post on his X handle, the Chief Minister wrote that he extended his best wishes to Mukesh Singh as he takes on this important responsibility.

He added that, with his vast experience and distinguished service record, he was confident Singh would provide strong leadership in maintaining peace, law and order, and public safety across the state, and wished him a successful tenure ahead.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the transfer of Mukesh Singh to Manipur on inter-cadre deputation for a period of three years.

According to an official order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, the decision was taken following a proposal received from the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 15, 2026.

Mukesh Singh, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre, is a B.Tech graduate in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and joined the IPS in 1996. He assumed charge as the DGP of Ladakh on January 15, 2026.

Earlier, he served in several sensitive assignments in Jammu and Kashmir, including as Superintendent of Police in Reasi, Pulwama, Poonch, and Jammu during periods of heightened militancy and insurgency-related operations.

Meanwhile, the ACC has also approved the appointment of Rajiv Singh as Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat, according to another DoPT order. Rajiv Singh, a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Tripura cadre, has been serving as the DGP of Manipur since June 1, 2023.

Before taking charge as the Manipur police chief, he served as Additional Director General of Police in Tripura and later as Inspector General (Operations) at the CRPF headquarters in New Delhi.

Rajiv Singh took over as the head of the Manipur Police during one of the most turbulent phases in the state following the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3, 2023. The ethnic violence began after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill districts by tribal organisations protesting the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

The ethnic conflict has so far claimed at least 260 lives, displaced thousands of people, and severely affected normal life across both hill and valley districts. The prolonged unrest also led to the imposition of President’s Rule in the state for nearly a year.

Manipur remained under President’s Rule from February 13, 2025, before it was revoked on February 4 this year, just hours ahead of the formation of a new BJP-led government in the state. BJP-led NDA legislature party leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh was subsequently sworn in as the Chief Minister.

Officials said the appointment of a new DGP assumes significance as the state government and security agencies continue efforts to restore normalcy and strengthen law and order in the violence-affected state.

–IANS

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