Who is Mukul Goel? Suspended during Mayawati rule, Uttar Pradesh’s new DGP has his hands full in poll year

Mukul Goel is a 1987-batch IPS officer.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has appointed 1987-batch IPS officer Mukul Goel as the new Director General of Police in the state. He succeeds Hitesh Chandra Awasthy, who retired yesterday after serving in various capacities in his career spanning around 36 years. Till yesterday, Goel was serving as the Additional Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) in Delhi. According to reports, his deputation is to end in November this year and he will have to get a nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for ‘premature repatriation’ so that he can take over the new role as the UP DGP. Goel will be retiring in February 2024.

Who is Mukul Goel?

Goel is an IPS officer of the UP cadre. He was born in Muzaffarnagar and has a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi. Notably, Goel was among several IPS officers who were suspended during the previous Mayawati-led BSP government for alleged irregularities in police recruitment. They were later reinstated as the case was closed by the government. Goel had served UP Police in various capacities. He held the post of ADG (Law and Order) in 2013 after riots broke out in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring districts.

He was appointed IG, BSF and shifted to Delhi on deputation in 2016. He also served as ADG (CB CID) and ADG (Railway) before 2016. In Uttar Pradesh, he had served as police chief of districts like Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Mainpuri, Azamgarh, Saharanpur and Meerut. Goel also served as DIG in Kanpur, Agra and Bareilly ranges.

Mukul Goel was awarded the Police Medal for Gallantry (2003), Police Medal for Meritorious Services (2003) and the President Police Medal for distinguished services (2012) for his exemplary service.

Challenges before Mukul Goel

Goel takes charge less than a year before the assembly elections in the state. Keeping social media in check as elections approach will be a new challenge which he will have to bear. The UP police is already in the spotlight with the cases against microblogging site Twitter. Two FIRs have been lodged in the state – one in the Loni assault case and another in the case where a distorted map of India was shown on Twitter’s website. Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari so far has managed to abstain from personal appearance while the UP Police has refused to consider his request of questioning over a video call.

Rectifying the image of the UP Police will be another challenge before him. It’s handling of cases of the so-called ‘love jihad’ and the Hathras gang rape case have drawn unwanted criticism. The police cremated the Hathras gangrape victim at about 2:30 am, leading to a huge uproar. Goel also faces a daunting task of strengthening the police patrolling system and ensuring women’s safety.