Suresh Kumar Sharma
Chief Information Adviser(Former IG Punjab & Ex-OSD to Deputy Prime Minister of India)An Introduction
Suresh Kumar Sharma, IGP (Retd.) Punjab Police He has had a meritorious career spanning 36 years in the Police.Born on 2nd December 1951, Sharma joined CRPF in 1975 as a Gazetted Class–I Officer (Deputy Superintendent of Police). He underwent initial training at the Internal Security Academy (ISA) Mount Abu. He was deputed to the Directorate of Civil Aviation Security from 1982 to 1986, during which tenure he was part of the team that probed the Kanishka bombing, the Madras Airport bomb blast, and tackled two hijacking incidents. He was amongst the first officers in the country to train abroad for anti-hijacking and civil aviation security at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Institute, Philippines. He was adjudged the ‘Best Officer’ of the course.
He was awarded a fellowship by ICAO under a UNDP program. Sharma was posted in Amritsar at the height of terrorism (from 1988 to 1990) and took active part in anti-terrorists operations, including “Operation Black Thunder”, for which he received commendations from the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister of India. He was on deputation with the Delhi Police as DCP Security/OSD, responsible for the security of the Deputy Prime Minister of India between 1990 and 1991.
He was posted in terrorism-prone areas in Jammu and Kashmir as Detachment Commanding Officer between 1991 and 1992. He was the Staff Officer and Security in-charge to Shri K.P.S. Gill, IPS (DGP, Punjab), during the period of terrorism, and acquired expertise in tackling terrorism. On the basis of this experience, he was absorbed into Punjab Police at the rank of Superintendent of Police, and received subsequent promotions up to the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP). During the Gujarat riots of 2002, he accompanied Shri K.P.S. Gill, who was deputed by the Centre to quell the protracted disorders in the state as Advisor to the then Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He played a crucial role in the restoration of normalcy in the State as OSD to Shri Gill during this tenure. An officer always willing to learn, Sharma attended numerous courses on Internal Security, Anti-hijacking Bomb Detection, and Communications and Aviation Security.
He has also been an Instructor in these fields for various organizations. A product of Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal, Sharma has an excellent academic record. He earned an MBA from the prestigious Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi; M.Sc. Physics, Jodhpur University; merit holder, Bachelor of Law (LLB), Vikram University, Ujjain; Post Graduate Diploma in international Law & Diplomacy, Indian Institute of International Law, New Delhi. A keen sportsman, Sharma represented Jodhpur University in athletics and has also excelled as a sports administrator. He has been associated with the Indian Hockey Federation and was Observer at the Atlanta, Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. Sharma was also a member of the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) Committee on Communications. Sharma has been a practicing lawyer enrolled with the Supreme Court of India since 2013. He engages in a range of social and voluntary activities and recently played a key role in organizing the International Brotherhood Day on September 11, 2016, to commemorate Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago in 1893. Sharma has tremendous capabilities to meet new challenges, and richly deserves whatever honors come his way. An officer always willing to learn, Sharma attended numerous courses on Internal Security, Anti-hijacking Bomb Detection, and Communications and Aviation Security. He has also been an Instructor in these fields for various organizations. He engages in a range of social and voluntary activities and recently played a key role in organizing the International Brotherhood Day on September 11, 2016,2017 and 2018 to commemorate Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago in 1893. Sharma has tremendous capabilities to meet new challenges, and richly deserves whatever honors come his way.