Soumen Mitra

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.

Soumen Mitra
38th Commissioner of the Kolkata Police
In office 8 February 2021 – 31 December 2021
Preceded by	Anuj Sharma
Succeeded by	Vineet Kumar Goyal
In office 13 April 2016 – 21 May 2016
Preceded by	Rajeev Kumar
Succeeded by	Rajeev Kumar
Personal details
Born	1961 (age 63–64)
Nationality	Indian
Education	B.A. M.A. M.Phil.
Alma mater	Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Presidency College, Kolkata St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata
Police career
Service	Indian Police Service
Department	West Bengal Police Kolkata Police
Service years	1988–2021
Status	Retired
Badge no.	19881066[1]
Awards	President's Police Medal (for Distinguished Service) Police Medal for Meritorious Service 50th Anniversary Independence Medal

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,^[2] 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,^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5] During this time, he developed a reputation for starting welfare and development projects in areas where he was posted.^[3] 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.^[3]

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^[6][7] and helped investigate the Kolkata Stock Exchange scam perpetrated in 2001.^[8][9][10] Later, he was appointed as the additional director general in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police.^[5][11]

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 despite opposition from 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.^[12][13] Mitra, who was perceived to be a rival of Kumar, cracked down on poll violence and was credited with ensuring a smooth election.^[14][15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17][18] In August 2021, Mitra received the Police Medal for outstanding service to the West Bengal government.^[19] Mitra continued being the police commissioner after the conclusion of the elections until he retired from the Indian Police Service in December 2021.^[20]

Other interests

Mitra has an interest in heritage structures.^[21] 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.^[22] In 2015, he helped restore the Police Training School which had previously served as one of India's first mental asylums and built in a unique architecture style that was pioneered by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century.^[23][21][24]

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.^[14]

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.^[14][25]

Personal life

Soumen Mitra is married and resides in Kolkata. His wife, Monabi Mitra, is a professor of English and a crime novelist.^[26]