‘Iron Lady of Assam’ Becomes First Woman to Head CoBRA as IG

IPS officer Sanjukta Parashar has been appointed Inspector General of the CRPF’s specialised jungle warfare commando unit, CoBRA, becoming the first woman to head the force. A 2006-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Parashar will succeed 1996-batch IPS officer Danesh Rana. The CRPF headquarters issued the appointment order recently.

Parashar has previously served in Assam and the National Investigation Agency, and has extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast. She is widely known as the “Iron Lady of Assam”. CoBRA, or Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, was raised in 2008-09 to tackle Left Wing Extremism and insurgency in challenging forest terrain. The unit specialises in jungle warfare and guerrilla operations and has also been deployed in the Northeast. Two CoBRA units were recently deployed in Manipur amid efforts to contain armed violence.