Lucknow: Senior UP IPS officer Sujeet Pandey has been appointed the Director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Hyderabad, the country’s premier institution for training IPS officers. He will take charge on July 31.Currently serving as Director General of Fire Services, UP, Pandey is the fifth IPS officer from the UP cadre since Independence to head the academy, after GK Handoo, SC Mishra, Trinath Mishra and Gyaneshwar Jha.Pandey became the first police commissioner of Lucknow in Jan 2020, leading the city’s transition to the commissionerate system. His tenure saw major reforms in policing structure, emergency response and urban law-and-order management, including during the challenging Covid-19 period.A former Director of the CBI Academy, Ghaziabad, Pandey is credited with modernising training modules, strengthening forensic education and expanding the academy’s national and international outreach. He also played a key role in establishing the academy as a premier training institution.During his stint with the CBI, Pandey investigated several high-profile cases, including the Mumbai blast case and the internationally watched British teenager murder case in Goa. He also served with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo.Pandey has held several key assignments, including IG, STF, ADG PAC Headquarters and ADG, Lucknow Zone. He has also served as SSP in Varanasi, Moradabad, Mainpuri and Bulandshahr.
