Soumen Mitra
{{Short description|Indian police officer (born 1961)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Soumen Mitra
| office = 38th Commissioner of the Kolkata Police
| term_start = 8 February 2021
| term_end = 31 December 2021
| predecessor = Anuj Sharma
| successor = Vineet Kumar Goyal
| term_start1 = 13 April 2016
| term_end1 = 21 May 2016
| predecessor1 = Rajeev Kumar
| successor1 = Rajeev Kumar
| alma_mater = {{ubl|Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi|Presidency College, Kolkata|St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata}}
| education = {{hlist|B.A.|M.A.|M.Phil.}}
| birth_place =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1961}}
| nationality = Indian|
| module = {{Infobox police officer
|embed=yes
| service = Indian Police Service
| service_label = Service
| department = West Bengal Police
| years = 1988–2021
| status = Retired
| awards =20px President's Police Medal (for Distinguished Service)
20px Police Medal for Meritorious Service
20px 50th Anniversary Independence Medal
}}
}}
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. 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 Commissioner of the Kolkata Police twice, first appointed by the Election Commission of India in 2016 during the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections and again in 2021. His tenure during the 2016 elections is credited with facilitating a violence-free election. He was reappointed in 2021 by the West Bengal Government during that year's legislative assembly elections. Mitra continued in this role until his retirement in December 2021, receiving 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,{{Cite web |date=3 August 2011 |title=No.I-21023/04/2011-IPS-IV - Government of India - Ministry of Home Affairs |url=https://ips.gov.in/pdfs/JS-Empnl-040811.pdf |website=ips.gov.in}} Mitra was educated at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata, Presidency College, Kolkata and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, completing his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy. A history graduate, 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.{{Cite web |last=Banerjee |first=Kaushikibrata |date=2023-01-26 |title='Serving our own men on behalf of govt can be very satisfying' |url=https://www.millenniumpost.in/k-reers/serving-our-own-men-on-behalf-of-govt-can-be-very-satisfying-506560?infinitescroll=1 |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=www.millenniumpost.in |language=en}} Initially, he started out as a probation officer in Darjeeling 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, Howrah and Murshidabad.{{Cite web |last=MP |first=Team |date=2021-02-07 |title=Soumen Mitra becomes new Kolkata Police Commissioner |url=https://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/soumen-mitra-becomes-new-kolkata-police-commissioner-431223 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=www.millenniumpost.in |language=en |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130081040/http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/soumen-mitra-becomes-new-kolkata-police-commissioner-431223 |url-status=live }} 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, 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.{{Cite web |last=Chaudhuri |first=Monalisa |date=7 February 2021 |title=Soumen Mitra returns as city police chief, replaces Anuj Sharma |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/calcutta/mitra-returns-as-city-police-chief-replaces-anuj-sharma/cid/1805932 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India)}}
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{{Cite web |date=2002-02-04 |title=USIS attack: Police still puzzled about motive for attack on American Center in Kolkata |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/20020204-usis-attack-police-still-puzzled-about-motive-for-attack-on-american-center-in-kolkata-796670-2002-02-03 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=India Today |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-02-06 |title=Kolkata, Howrah, Salt Lake get new police commissioners ahead of assembly polls |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kolkata-howrah-salt-lake-get-new-police-commissioners-ahead-of-assembly-polls-101612628287021.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208084443/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kolkata-howrah-salt-lake-get-new-police-commissioners-ahead-of-assembly-polls-101612628287021.html |url-status=live }} and helped investigate the Kolkata Stock Exchange scam perpetrated in 2001.{{Cite news |date=2002-11-21 |title=Calcutta Stock Exchange scam prime accused held |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/calcutta-stock-exchange-scam-prime-accused-held/articleshow/28904218.cms |access-date=2024-07-15 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020645/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Calcutta-Stock-Exchange-scam-prime-accused-held/articleshow/28904218.cms |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Former CSE president arrested |url=https://www.rediff.com/money/report/cse/20030611.htm |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=Rediff |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2002-12-02 |title=Calcutta Stock Exchange payment crisis: Lending brokers arrested but may be too late |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/economy/story/20021202-calcutta-stock-exchange-payment-crisis-lending-brokers-arrested-but-may-be-too-late-794373-2002-12-01 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=India Today |language=en}} Later, he was appointed as the additional director general in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police.{{Cite web |last=PTI |date=2016-04-13 |title=Soumen Mitra Takes Over as Kolkata Police Commissioner |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kolkata/2016/Apr/13/soumen-mitra-takes-over-as-kolkata-police-commissioner-923952.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805050209/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kolkata/2016/apr/13/Soumen-Mitra-Takes-Over-as-Kolkata-Police-Commissioner-923952.html |url-status=live }}
= Police Commissioner (2016) =
In the run up to the 2016 Assembly Elections in West Bengal, Mitra was appointed the Commissioner of the Kolkata Police by the Election Commission of India without consulting the incumbent Trinamool Congress 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160413/jsp/frontpage/story_79916.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416034510/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160413/jsp/frontpage/story_79916.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2016|title='Bias' Kumar gets the boot|website=The Telegraph|access-date=2016-04-13}}{{Cite web |title=Kolkata Police Chief Rajeev Kumar Removed By Election Commission |url=https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/kolkata-police-commissioner-rajeev-kumar-removed-by-poll-panel-1394717 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=NDTV |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203181547/https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/kolkata-police-commissioner-rajeev-kumar-removed-by-poll-panel-1394717 |url-status=live }} Mitra, who was perceived to be a rival of Kumar, cracked down on poll violence and was credited with ensuring a smooth election.{{Cite web |last=Ganguly |first=Arnab |date=10 August 2021 |title=Police commissioner Soumen Mitra tops Mamata's I-Day medals list |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/police-commissioner-soumen-mitra-tops-mamatas-i-day-medals-list/cid/1826022 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India) |archive-date=10 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810183543/https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/police-commissioner-soumen-mitra-tops-mamatas-i-day-medals-list/cid/1826022 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2016-05-05 |title=Last action hero: Why Kolkatans should be proud of police commissioner Soumen Mitra |url=https://www.firstpost.com/politics/last-action-hero-why-kolkatans-should-be-proud-of-top-cop-soumen-mitra-2764960.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=Firstpost |language=en-us}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2016-05-22 |title=Rajeev Kumar reinstated as Kolkata Police chief after Mamata's return |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rajeev-kumar-reinstated-as-kolkata-police-chief-after-mamatas-return-2812729/ |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=The Indian Express |language=en |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314095619/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rajeev-kumar-reinstated-as-kolkata-police-chief-after-mamatas-return-2812729/ |url-status=live }}
= 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 on the recommendation of the Election Commission.{{Cite web |last=Bhandari |first=Shashwat |date=2021-09-09 |title=Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra promoted to DGP rank by Bengal government |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/kolkata-police-commissioner-soumen-mitra-promoted-to-dgp-rank-mamata-banerjee-bengal-government-732909 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=www.indiatvnews.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=IANS |date=2021-08-11 |title=Kolkata top cop Soumen Mitra selected for Police Medal |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/kolkata/kolkata-top-cop-soumen-mitra-selected-police-medal-1502993186.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=The Statesman |language=en |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930232606/https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/kolkata/kolkata-top-cop-soumen-mitra-selected-police-medal-1502993186.html |url-status=live }} In August 2021, Mitra received the Police Medal for outstanding service to the West Bengal government.{{Cite web |title=Kolkata Top Cop, 2 Other IPS Officers To Get Medal For Outstanding Service |url=https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/kolkata-police-commissioner-soumen-mitra-2-other-ips-officers-to-get-police-medal-for-outstanding-service-2507935 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=NDTV.com |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817014618/https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/kolkata-police-commissioner-soumen-mitra-2-other-ips-officers-to-get-police-medal-for-outstanding-service-2507935 |url-status=live }} Mitra continued being the police commissioner after the conclusion of the elections until he retired from the Indian Police Service in December 2021.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-31 |title=Vineet Kumar Goyal appointed new Kolkata Police commissioner |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/kolkata/story/vineet-kumar-goyal-appointed-new-kolkata-police-commissioner-ips-rank-officers-reshuffle-west-bengal-1894488-2021-12-31 |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=India Today |language=en |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603132151/https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/kolkata/story/vineet-kumar-goyal-appointed-new-kolkata-police-commissioner-ips-rank-officers-reshuffle-west-bengal-1894488-2021-12-31 |url-status=live }}
Other interests
Mitra has an interest in heritage structures.{{Cite web |last=Mitra |first=Soumen |date=24 August 2023 |title=Remembrances and revisitations: Restoring colonial buildings in Kolkata |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/places/remembrances-and-revisitations-restoring-colonial-buildings-in-kolkata/cid/1954231 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India) |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724165801/https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/places/remembrances-and-revisitations-restoring-colonial-buildings-in-kolkata/cid/1954231 |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite news |date=2014-01-25 |title=Sanyasi Raja house now a police hub |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/sanyasi-raja-house-now-a-police-hub/articleshow/29327634.cms |access-date=2024-07-15 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257 |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324040452/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Sanyasi-Raja-house-now-a-police-hub/articleshow/29327634.cms |url-status=live }} In 2015, he helped restore the Police Training School which previously served as one of India's first mental asylums,{{Cite journal |last=Weiss |first=M. G. |date=October 1983 |title=The treatment of insane patients in India in the lunatic asylums of the nineteenth century |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=312 |issn=0019-5545 |pmc=3012305 |pmid=21847309}} built in a unique architecture style that was pioneered by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century.{{Cite web |last=Chakrabarty |first=Saionee |date=12 January 2021 |title=Narayan Sinha's public art pays tribute to Kolkata |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/people/narayan-sinhas-public-art/cid/1847164 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India)}}{{Cite news |date=2015-11-24 |title=INTACH award for Kolkata Police Training School |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/intach-award-for-kolkata-police-training-school/article7913868.ece |access-date=2025-03-23 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Saha |first=Shrestha |date=28 November 2019 |title=Travelogues to read this week |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/books/travelogues-to-read-this-week/cid/1722470 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India)}}
Personal life
Soumen Mitra is married and resides in Kolkata. His wife, Monabi Mitra, is a professor of English and a crime novelist.{{Cite web |last1=Ghose |first1=Chandrayee |last2=Chauduri |first2=Trina |date=29 December 2013 |title=Confessions of a crime writer |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/confessions-of-a-crime-writer/cid/1285773 |access-date=15 July 2024 |website=The Telegraph (India)}}
References
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Category:Indian Police Service officers