Amit Lodha

Amit Lodha
Born (1974-02-22) February 22, 1974 (age 50)
Jaipur, Rajasthan
NationalityIndian
Alma materSt Xavier's School, Jaipur
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Known forKhakee: The Bihar Chapter
Notable workBihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar's Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught
SpouseKomudi [Tanu] Lodha (m. 1999)
RelativesNarendra Lodha (father)
Namit Lodha (brother)
Police career
CountryIndia
Service years1998-till date
Rank Inspector General of Police
Badge no.19981029
Batch1998
CadreBihar
Awards President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
Police Medal for Meritorious Service.
Police Antarik Suraksha Seva Padak

Amit Lodha (Hindi: अमित लोढ़ा) (born 22 February 1974) is a 1998 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Bihar Cadre, currently serving as Inspector General of SCRB [State Crime Record Bureau] Bihar. He has received several awards for his work. He is known for his book Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar's Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught. The web series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter on Netflix is based on that book.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and career

Lodha is a 1995 alumnus of IIT Delhi He joined the IPS in 1998. During his District Training, he was trained under IPS Gupteshwar Pandey. After the infamous Manikpur (Manipur) Village Massacre in 2006, Amit Lodha was posted in the newly created, Sheikhpura District of Bihar in 2006 by the then CM Nitish Kumar.[6] [7] He was instrumental in the nabbing and crackdown of Politically protected Ashok Mahto Gang during his tenure there. Lodha used his expertise in technology as an engineer to set-up Call Observation and Parallel Listening for members of the gang. During his investigation and intelligence gathering he discovered political backing by JDU leaders and party president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Randhir Kumar Soni the then MLA of Sheikhpura to the Ashok Mahto Gang.[8] Mahto was arrested in 2006, while he was travelling to court; Bihar Military Police (BMP) officers carried out a procession in which Mahto, half-naked and bleeding, was dressed in garland of slippers. This incident proved controversial and the region's backward castes saw it as a punishment to the gangster for opposing Bhumihars. Mahto enjoyed considerable support among the backward classes; his public humiliation prompted questions such as; "Can the police humiliate an upper-caste gangster in a similar manner?".[9]

Amit Lodha was promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police, CID in 2013.[10]

Amit was also posted as DIG and later promoted to IG in Border Security Force on central deputation in 2019. [11][12][13]

As of February 2024, Lodha is an Inspector General of Police [IG] rank officer in Bihar Police.[14][15]

Clare Mackintosh at Times LitFest in New Delhi with IPS officer Amit Lodha on left

Controversies

In December 2022, Lodha was booked under several sections of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act for entering a commercial deal with Netflix as a government servant and writing the book Bihar Diaries without taking prior permission or approval from the government.[16] Lodha has mentioned that he has done nothing wrong.[17][18] Controversy has also been created by the media that he was suspended but he has never been suspended, the government has also not released any statement regarding the suspension. He is still in service serving as Inspector General of Police, at State Crime Record Bureau, Bihar Police.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "फिजिक्स और मैथ्स पसंद थे पर सपना था पुलिस अफसर बनने का IIT से पढ़े और बने IPS, राष्ट्रपति से भी मिल चुका अवॉर्ड".
  2. ^ Lodha, Amit (31 March 2021). "This IPS officer went from being an indifferent IIT student to (not) studying for the civil services". Scroll.in. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ Bharatvarsh, TV9 (3 December 2022). "बिहार के खाकी स्टार IPS अफसरबने सबके हीरो, अमित लोढ़ा की अनसुनी कहानी". TV9 Bharatvarsh (in Hindi). Retrieved 3 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Amit Lodha: The IIT Grad Turned 'Super Cop' Behind Netflix's Khakee". The Better India. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  5. ^ "अपराधियों से लड़ते बनाई सुपर कॉप की छवि; जानिए कौन हैं बिहार के IPS अमित लोढ़ा, जिनके जीवन पर बनी वेब सीरीज - Web Series Khakee: Image of Super Cop created while fighting with criminals; Know who is IPS Amit Lodha of Bihar on whose real story of khakee web series Khakee- The Bihar Chapter made". Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ "7 killed in village massacre - Four minors among dead". The Telegraph Online. 22 May 2006.
  7. ^ "After the killings, the transfers". The Times of India. 22 May 2006. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Who is the real Chandan Mahto, the dreaded gangster from Netflix's Khakee The Bihar Chapter?". www.dailyo.in. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  9. ^ "On way to court, Bihar cops parade gangster with garland of slippers". 16 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  10. ^ "IPS officers transferred in Bihar". Business Standard. 26 March 2013.
  11. ^ "जोधपुर निवासी अमित लोढ़ा ने राजस्थान फ्रंटियर के आईजी का पदभार ग्रहण किया". Dainik Bhaskar. 21 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Amit Lodha assumes charge as new BSF IGP". The Times of India. 21 June 2019. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Appointment of Shri Amit Lodha, IPS (BH:98), working as DIG BSF to the post of Inspector. General, BSF" (PDF). 6 December 2018.
  14. ^ a b "IPS Officers of India" (PDF). Indian Police Service. Ministry Of Home Affairs, Government of India. 1 January 2024. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Home Department (Govt. of Bihar)".
  16. ^ "Khakee: The Bihar Chapter Review: बिहार के IAS और गैंगस्टर के बीच की जंग है 'खाकी', करण टैक्कर की जबरदस्त एक्टिंग ने जीता दिल". आज तक (in Hindi). 30 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  17. ^ Mishra, Dipak (9 December 2022). "Bihar IPS officer who inspired 'Khakee' booked for Netflix deal, says 'did nothing wrong'". ThePrint. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Patna HC refuses to quash FIR against IPS officer Amit Lodha in DA case". Hindustan Times. 23 January 2024.