Gupteshwar Pandey

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gupteshwar Pandey

• Gupteshwar Pandey is a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who took voluntary retirement (VRS) from the service on 22 September 2020 while serving as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar.

• He grew up in Gerua Bandh, a village that did not have basic amenities like electricity, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and good road connectivity. According to Pandey, he had to cover almost 20-25 km distance to reach the district headquarter, Buxar.

• He started his schooling at the age of seven as the village where he had to go to attend the school was far away from his native village, and his parents were waiting for him to grow up enough to travel safely to that village.

• According to Gupteshwar Pandey, he first saw people talking in “Khadi Boli” (basic Hindi language) when he entered college; before that, he had mostly experienced the Bhojpuri language during his primary and secondary schooling.

• After matric, Pandey attended Patna College in Patna in 1977 where he completed his intermediate in 1979. Thereafter, he attended Patna University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Sanskrit. Later, he pursued MA at the same university; however, he left his studies midway to prepare for the UPSC Examination.

• Gupteshwar Pandey gave his first UPSC attempt in 1984, but he couldn’t clear the examination. In 1985, he gave his second UPSC attempt, and this time, he cleared the examination and joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).

• While undergoing his IRS training at Nagpur, Pandey gave his third UPSC attempt in 1986, this time, he joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) with Bihar Cadre, and he went to Mussoorie for his training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). According to Mr. Pandey, he didn’t take the help of any coaching while preparing for the UPSC Examination, and he took his UPSC exam in Sanskrit. ^[7]Hindustan Times

  

• Pandey was inspired to prepare for the UPSC Examination after he saw that an average student (according to Pandey) had become an IAS officer, and when he asked him if he (Pandey) could also become the one, he doubted over Pandey’s capability to become an IAS officer, it triggered Pandey to prepare for the UPSC Examination. According to Pandey, he became so passionate to become an IAS/IPS officer that he had decided to prepare only for the UPSC and not any other examination in his life, and if he would fail, he would return to his village and become a farmer.

• Another reason that he cites to become a police officer was an incident that took place in his village when he was still a child. According to Mr. Pandey, once his village house was robbed and when a police officer visited there to investigate, he misbehaved with his parents, and this incident made him resolve that if he would become a police officer, he would try to make police people-friendly.

• After his training from the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Pandey served as the SP of several Naxal-affected districts in Bihar, like Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Arwal, Begusarai, and Nalanda; besides being DIG of Munger and Muzaffarpur zone.

• Later, Gupteshwar Pandey went on to serve as IG of Muzaffarpur Zone and DG of Bihar Police (training), before becoming the DGP of Bihar in 2019.

  

• Reportedly, as IG of Tirhut Division Muzaffarpur Range, Mr. Pandey worked extensively to curb crime and make police people-friendly.

• Gupteshwar Pandey made headlines in 2009 when he announced to take the VRS, before the Lok Sabha elections. Reportedly, he wanted to contest from the Buxar Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket; however, he refuted these claims and said,
  

  कोई एक बयान दिखाइए जो मैंने या किसी नेता ने दिया हो कि मैं भाजपा से जुड़ना चाहता था? ये सब क़यास लगाए जा रहे हैं. और केवल इस वजह से क्योंकि भाजपा नेता शाहनवाज़ हुसैन जब नागरिक उड्डयन मंत्री थे, तो मैं तीन साल तक उनका OSD था. उससे ही लोगों को लगा कि मैं भाजपा से जुड़ना चाहता हूं. अपनी 34 साल की सर्विस में मैंने किसी नेता की तरफ़दारी नहीं की है.”

• During a programme held at the police headquarter in Patna, he revealed that he got failed in class eleven. ^[8]News 18

• Gupteshwar Pandey became the face of the alcohol ban campaign in Bihar after the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar completely banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in November 2015. Thereafter, Mr. Pandey travelled across the state and campaigned extensively for the alcohol ban.

  

• After Sushant Singh Rajput‘s family filed a case in Patna blaming his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty for his mysterious death, Mr. Pandey was instrumental in the Bihar government’s push in investigating the case by the CBI.

• His younger brother, Shrikant Pratyush, is a journalist who started his career with Zee News. Later, Pratyush became the managing director of PTN News channel and City Post Live Web News Portal. He is also the resident editor of Jantantra TV.

  

• Mr. Pandey is known to flaunt his Brahmin identity unabashedly as he sports a big “choti” (a pigtail) and often gets himself involved in temple politics. He also heads two temple trusts in Bihar, the Garibnath Temple Trust in Muzaffarpur, and the Hariharnath Temple Trust in Sonepur.

  

• Mr. Pandey is an active advocate of cow welfare, and he is often spotted serving the cows.

  

• Gupteshwar Pandey is also known for his proximity to Swami Padam Priyam, a self-styled godman popularly known as the “Pistol Baba.”

  

• On 22 September 2020, he again took the VRS from the police service. This time too, the speculations about him entering politics became rife. During a media interaction, Mr. Pandey told reporters,
  

  I have not said that I will contest polls yet. I haven’t joined any party. When I do I will tell all of you. Politics is not the only way of serving society.”

• Mr. Pandey is considered to be very close to Nitish Kumar, and on Nitish Kumar’s role in his decision to take the VRS, he said,
  

  Our Chief Minister is very professional. He likes those who work with the system. But it was my decision.”

  

• Soon after he quit as the DGP of Bihar on 22 September 2020, a song titled “Robinhood Bihar Ke” went viral on social media. The song featured Gupteshwar Pandey, and it was made by the Bigg Boss 12 fame Deepak Thakur.

• On 27 September 2020, he entered active politics by joining the Janata Dal (United) in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Pandey took to Twitter to announce the news of his joining the JDU.

• In July 2021, he became ‘Katha Vachak’ (preacher) when he donned saffron and delivered sermons in Mathura.