Odisha Government Reshuffles Administrative Posts: New DMs Appointed for Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur

In a recent administrative overhaul, the Odisha government has announced the appointment of new District Magistrates (DMs) for Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur. Arindam Dakua, a 2011-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new DM of Cuttack, replacing Vineet Bharadwaj, while Anupam Saha, a 2012-batch IAS officer, takes over as the DM of Jagatsinghpur, succeeding Parul Patwari. 

This decision follows the Election Commission of India’s directive on April 2, mandating the transfer of Bharadwaj, Patwari, and six other IPS officers to non-election-related roles with immediate effect. Among those transferred were IGP (Central Range) Ashish Singh, Cuttack DCP Kanwar Vishal Singh, and Rourkela SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, among others. 

Sanjay Kumar Kaushal has been appointed as the new IG (Central) Range, succeeding Ashish Singh, while DIG of Police, Vigilance, Prakash R, assumes the role of Cuttack DCP, replacing Kanwar Vishal Singh. Additionally, DIG of Police, Intelligence (Security Wing), Brijesh Kumar Rai, has been named the new Rourkela SP. 

Further changes include Umashankar Dash taking charge as Angul SP and Ashish Singh’s appointment as the new IGP in Chief Minister’s Security. Mitrabhanu Mohapatra has been designated as the Additional Special Relief Commissioner. 

In a series of notifications, Vishal Singh has been reassigned as DIG, SIW (Special Intelligence Wing), while Sidhansu Sekhar Mishra and Jugal Kishore Kumar Banoth will serve as the new SP Vigilance and AIG of Police (Headquarters), respectively. Saravana Vivek M has been appointed as SP Vigilance. 

In additional appointments, Vineet Bhardwaj will serve as Director-cum-Additional Secretary in the Drinking Water and Sanitation department, while Parul Patawari takes on the role of State Project Director, Odisha Education Programme Authority. Puri Jagannath Temple Additional Chief Administrator Samartha Verma has been named Additional Secretary in the Works department, and Subhankar Mohapatra assumes the position of Director in the Rural Development department.