Inspiration for thousands, India’s first woman Director General of Police (DGP) Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passed away following an illness late Monday night in Mumbai. We pray for her soul to rest in peace.
Some souls are born to create history and inspire others to dream big. And, one such soul was Ms. Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya.
Hailing from Amritsar, Punjab, Bhattacharya was a 1973 batch IPS officer. It is said that her father was caught up in a property matter and allegedly got beaten up very badly once. No police officer at that time was ready to file an FIR.
This incident had disturbed Kanchan deeply and inspired her to join forces in order to fight for justice.
She was promoted to be the first woman Director General of Police in Uttrakhand after serving as Additional Director General of Police.
In her action-packed career, she was involved with some high profile cases like the murder of seven times national badminton champion Syed Modi in 1987 and the Reliance-Bombay Dyeing case. Also, she has handled several white-collar crimes in banks and public sectors.
She was awarded multiple medals for her great achievements – President’s Medal for long and meritorious services in 1989, President’s Medal for distinguished services in 1997 and the Rajiv Gandhi Award in 2004 for excellent all-round performance.
She retired on October 31, 2007.
Following her sad demise, Uttrakhand Police remembered her via Twitter. The IPS association too has mourned and stated,
We mourn the demise of one of our icons, the first lady DGP and second lady IPS officer of India, Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya. An officer with sterling qualities of head and heart, she had an illustrious career, adorned with many firsts and awards.
प्रदेश की पूर्व DGP श्रीमती कंचन चौधरी भट्टाचार्य, 1973 बैच की IPS अधिकारी, जो कुछ समय से बीमार चल रही थी, के निधन पर #UttarakhandPolice उनके परिजनों के प्रति शोक संवेदना व्यक्त करते हुए उत्तराखंड पुलिस में उनके द्वारा दिए गए अभूतपूर्व योगदान को याद करती है।@IPS_Association pic.twitter.com/dmk3IRthg6
— Uttarakhand Police (@uttarakhandcops) August 26, 2019
Post-retirement, she joined politics to serve the country.
She contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election as Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Haridwar constituency. However, she could not make it to the lower house of Parliament.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condoled the death of Ms. Bhattacharya.
Saddened to know about the passing away of the country’s first woman DGP Ms Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya.
She remained active in public life after her retirement and wanted to serve the country till her very last.
Will miss her. RIP— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 27, 2019
Her inspiring story was later into popular teleserial ‘Udaan’. It was written and directed by her sister Kavita Chaudhary who also played the lead protagonist in the series.
The show was based on the struggles of a woman aspiring to be an IPS officer and was one of the first shows on Indian television to deal with the subject of women empowerment.
At I FOR HER, we are saddened by Ms. Bhattacharya demise and we believe we have lost one strong soul, who believed in shattering the glass ceiling.
We pray for strength for her family members and friends and hope Ms. Kanchan would still inspiring us!