Soumen Mitra
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Soumen Mitra is an Indian police officer who served as the 38th Commissioner of the Kolkata Police. 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 The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...
. Mitra served as Commissioner of the Kolkata Police twice, first appointed by the
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...
in 2016 during the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections and again in 2021. He was reappointed in 2021 by the
West Bengal Government The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the principal administrative authority of the Indian state of West Bengal, created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial a ...
during that year's legislative assembly elections.


Early life and career

Born in 1961, Mitra was educated at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata,
Presidency College, Kolkata Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...
and
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...
, completing his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
,
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
and
Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...
. A history graduate, he qualified for the Civil Services examinations and was inducted into the
Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...
, belonging to the 1988-batch in the West Bengal cadre. Initially, he started out as a
probation officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...
in
Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
before being appointed the assistant commissioner of police operations in Darjeeling. He subsequently held other roles, acting as a police superintendent under the West Bengal Police in
Barrackpore Barrackpore (), also known as Barrackpore,is a city and municipality in North 24 Parganas district in the India, Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Barrackpore subdivision. The city is a part of the area covered by Ko ...
,
Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...
and
Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...
. During this time, he started development and welfare projects in areas where he was posted. He is credited with starting the Chandradeep Mela, an annual social event in
Hariharpara Hariharpara is a village, with a police station, in the Hariharpara (community development block), Hariharpara Community development blocks in India, CD block in the Berhampore subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, Indi ...
, an area that was known for having a high rate of
communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, where the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, ri ...
. The introduction of the social event helped stabilize the political atmosphere in the area. Mitra was transferred to the
Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...
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 and helped investigate the Kolkata Stock Exchange scam perpetrated in 2001. Later, he was appointed as the additional director general in charge of the
Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...
of the
West Bengal Police The West Bengal Police () is the primary law enforcement agency for the Indian state of West Bengal, excluding the metropolitan area of Kolkata, which has its own separate police force. It is responsible for maintaining public order, preventing ...
.


Police Commissioner (2016)

In the run up to the 2016 Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Mitra was appointed the
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...
of the
Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...
by the
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...
without consulting the incumbent
Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...
government on 13 April 2016. Mitra's predecessor, Rajeev Kumar was seen as biased towards the ruling party, and the other parties contesting the elections had filed petitions to the Election Commission alleging mismanagement of the elections due to rampant incidents of poll violence targeted at members of those parties. Mitra, who was perceived to be a rival of Kumar, cracked down on poll violence and was credited with ensuring a smooth election. 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.


Police Commissioner (2021)

In February 2021, Mitra was again appointed as the Police Commissioner of the Kolkata Police in the period prior to the 2021 Assembly Elections in West Bengal by
Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...
on the recommendation of the
Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
. In August 2021, Mitra received the Police Medal for outstanding service to the West Bengal government. Mitra continued being the police commissioner after the conclusion of the elections until he retired from the
Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...
in December 2021.


Other interests

Mitra has an interest in heritage structures. 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 The Bhawal case was an extended Indian court case about a person claiming to be the prince of Bhawal, who was presumed dead a decade earlier. Apparent first death and cremation Ramendra Narayan Roy was a kumar ("prince") of the Bhawal Est ...
. In 2015, he helped restore the Police Training School which previously served as one of India's first mental asylums, built in a unique architecture style that was pioneered by
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.
5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...
in the 18th century.


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''. 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.


Personal life

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


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Soumen 1961 births Living people Indian Police Service officers Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Police commissioners of Kolkata