Pankaj Choudhary: How Pankaj Chaudhary, the son of UP fishermen, became Rajasthan’s Daring IPS

GG News Bureau
Jaipur/New Delhi,9th June. This is the story of Pankaj Chaudhry belonging to fisherman community who became IPS (Indian Police Service) officer through his resolve, high spirit, hard work and undeterred determination. His story is a glorious journey of a decade as a successful bureaucrat. He was down and broken on several occasion but never faltered. Wherever he was posted he worked with utmost sincerity and courage showing no fear. He lost his police job on an occasion but he kept his cool and courage and made a tremendous comeback.

Now Pankaj Chaudhary has been appointed as commandant in Rajasthan State Disaster Response Force making him the most talked-about IPS officers of the Rajasthan cadre and that too after being dismissed for two years. He has now received a posting as Commandant in Rajasthan state disaster response force on June 7, 2021. He will take over on June 9th.

Pankaj Chaudhary was born on February 5, 1975, to becoming an IPS in Ballia and he is originally from Varanasi in UP. According to Pankaj Chaudhary, his childhood was spent on the banks of the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh. The family’s ancestral job is fishing and boating at the river and his uncle ferries people on boat in the vicinity of Siwan even today. Pankaj Chaudhary belongs to the fishermen community falling under the SC-ST category. The fishermen community constitutes only one per cent of the population across the country. Pankaj Chaudhary is the first person to become an IPS from the fishermen community in 2009.

Pankaj Chaudhary’s father SS Chaudhary retired as a civil engineer. Mother passed away in October last year. Pankaj Chaudhary is the only elder brother of three sisters. The three sisters are married. Pankaj Chaudhary married Mukul Chaudhary in Banaras court in 2018. They have two sons. His IPS service record is filled with high’s and lows as on June 7, 2021, he took charge as Commandant, State Disaster Response Force. O may 12 he was at the post of APO. From 7th March 2019 to 11th May 2021 he was sacked from service on flimsy grounds. On November 9, 2015, he was appointed as SP SCRB
From 30 October 2014 to 5 November 2015 he was Commandant of 11th Battalion of RAC. From 22 September 2014 to 27 October 2014 he was at the job of APO. From 11 January 2014 to 21 September 2014 – SP Bundi. From 7 August 2013 to 10 January 2014 -PRINCIPAL at PTS Kishangarh. From 23 February 2013 to 5 August 2013 – SP Jaisalmer. From 24 April 2012 to 20 February 2013 – Banswara Ghatol ASP. From 24 October 2011 to 21 April 2012-ASP RPA Jaipur. From 11 July 2011 to 25 July 2011-ASP Jaipur West. From 14 February 2011 to 10 July 2011 ASP Kota City.

Pankaj Chaudhary says people t often join politics with VRS from their jobs or after retiring, but his story is slightly different in this regard. Pankaj Chaudhary is probably the only IPS officer who tried his luck in the first job and then in the elections and finally got back to the job. In fact, Pankaj Chaudhary had filed his nomination papers on the BSP ticket in Barmer-Jaisalmer seat Lok Sabha elections 2019 after his dismissal from police service, though Pankaj Chaudhary’s nomination papers were later rejected at the time. Meanwhile, Pankaj Chaudhary’s wife Mukul Chaudhary had contested from Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat from BSP.

Pankaj Chaudhary says he has seen a lot of ups and downs while in a police job. He went to court several times during the dismissal case. His wife Mukul Chaudhary remained his biggest strength during the crisis period. Mukul supported him from court to the house, all the way.
Pankaj Chaudhary points out that after completing his B.Tech in civil engineering, he worked in a private company in Delhi from 2000 to 2002. In the meantime, he passed the SSC examination and served as an auditor in the Ministry of Commerce in Delhi from 2002 to 2009. Preparations for UPSC also continued. In the second attempt, he passed the UPSC Civil Services Examination from 299th rank in 2009. Pankaj Chaudhary chose police uniform and became an IPS. At that time, Pankaj Chaudhary was the highest scoring candidate out of 300 in the Hindi medium.
Pankaj Chaudhary, IPS, Cadre, Rajasthan worked as SP in several districts and was in news due to his working style in several places.
He was the one who opened the case of history-sheeter from 1965, Ghazi Fakir When he was SP in Jaisalmer in 2013.
He was accused of negligence in preventing communal riots at Nainwa in Bundi district in 2014 and was demoted as APO. Then he became RAC commandant and went to Delhi.
Pankaj Chaudhary married Mukul Chaudhary, a resident of Jhalrapatan in the Jhalawar district of Rajasthan.
Pankaj Chaudhary first married Sudha Gupta in Varanasi on 4th December 2005. He had a daughter who is now 7 years old and is said to be studying in Hathras. Pankaj and Mukul Chaudhary then got married. Pankaj Chaudhary was dismissed from service in March 2019 on charges of second marriage without divorce. According to Pankaj Chaudhary, the High Court Allahabad granted a divorce on May 1, 2018. The second marriage took place on 11may 2018 at Banaras Court, Mukul Chaudhary.
Pankaj Chaudhry challenged the decision of termination in CAT. In December 2020, the CAT principal bench ordered the cancellation and restoration of Pankaj Chaudhary’s dismissal order. Pankaj Chaudhary had then made his presentation before the state personnel department, chief secretary Niranjan Arya and DGP MLA Latthar who restored his job in December 2020. He Joined DOP on 13th May 2021.