When policing came calling, SP Amit Kumar left LA, won hearts of citizens in UP with impactful crackdowns

Coming from a family of uniform services, a calling for the Indian Police Services was so strong for the IPS officer Amit Kumar that he left his job at Los Angeles and moved back to India.

IPS officer Amit Kumar posted as SP Chandauli has been recently awarded the prestigious American International Association for Chiefs of Police (IACP) award among the 40 police officers at the international platform.

It is said that a true inner calling always leads you to the path where you once thought to let go for other goals in life. The same has proven true for Amit Kumar who had two other officers at home- his father a retired CRPF (Central Para Military Force) officer and younger brother in the Indian Army. However, he credits his passion for policing and dream for UPSC to his mother.

Speaking exclusively to BW Policeworld, SP Amit Kumar said, “I grew up seeing my father in the uniform and uniform services was my goal since childhood. I did my engineering and then management from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. I left for USA and worked in LA at a high paying job. My mother strongly wished that I should be a police officer and it is because of her, I pursued the dream again and came back to India”.

Amit cracked the UPSC and got selected for IPS in the 2015 batch. He was borne into the UP cadre and thus began his journey into his dream job of policing. Amit Kumar has served in Aligarh, Lucknow, Faizabad, Noida and Ayodhya before getting posted as SP Chandauli, his first posting as SP.

As a trainee officer in Aligarh, Amit Kumar cracked down on the illegal syndicate of liquor smugglers in Haryana which won accolades of appreciation from the locals to such an extent that they requested UP police to extend Amit Kumar’s posting in Aligarh.

SP Amit recalls, “As a trainee officer there I had begun to learn work and I developed information that the liquor smugglers of Haryana used Aligarh as a point to push in liquor. I spearheaded the investigation straight to the point where the syndicate operated fearlessly and busted it. Several were arrested and a huge syndicate was broken. The locals over there requested the SP then to extend my traineeship to bust the whole network. It was a heartwarming experience that stays with me”.

SP Amit Kumar was also posted in the UP STF (Special Task Force) to help build up a new cyber policing branch for the entire state. 

He said, “I was pulled in from Noida to be a part of the Cyber Police team when cyber policing was at its nascent stage. I was a part of a very important team that developed SoPs and procedures for  cyber investigation".

Amit Kumar’s posting Lucknow fetched him the detection of the biggest haul of vehicle theft cases where a huge number of 112 four wheelers including the high end cars like Audi, BMW, Mercedes were recovered. From what looked like a simple vehicle theft detection turned out to be the biggest haul of vehicle theft in the country so far.

Amit’s name was selected for the IACP award for this detection and his spectacular role in handling the security at the Defence Expo 2020 in Lucknow. The expo had over five lakh attendees from 72 countries and Amit Kumar handled the security of the event and the ministers and officers attending the same from various countries.

Talking about his first posting as SP of Chandauli district, Amit Kumar said, “As a police officer we get a lot of space to maneuver and take initiatives for police and people. I have started with the ongoing ‘Mission Shakti’ programme of UP Police where we are conducting series of counselling sessions for the girls coming of age to help them not fall prey to ill wiling men. We in UP Police are determined to women safety. Chandauli has a history of naxalism and so we are engaging more with the communities for talks and regularly organize skill development programmes to ensure youth get jobs and not divert to crimes”.

He added, “Chanduali is in outskirts of Varanasi, a place where many arrive from various backgrounds making it a birthplace of crime. We are constantly vigilant on the suspects, syndicates, liquor mafia, sand mafia and more”.

As soon as Amit Kumar took over as SP, he started a special mobile number for the citizens to call and report on crimes and anti-social activities where the identity of the person would be kept confidential.

As a young officer with a vision to improvise the security among the citizens of the district where he takes over and the experience of working overseas with latest trends, Amit Kumar’s journey has just begun.

The IACP ’40 under 40’ award is just the beginning for SP Amit Kumar.