Tributes have been pouring in from all over the country for India’s first woman Director General of Police (DGP) Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya. Union Minister Smriti too has paid her tributes to the former DGP who passed away on Monday. Irani said the DGP’s life had inspired many girls to become police officers.

A life that inspired many:

Smriti Irani tweeted her tribute, calling Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya an inspiration: 

 

Awarded President's Medal:

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It was in 1997 that Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya was awarded the President's police medal for distinguished service and also got the Rajiv Gandhi award for excellent all-round performance. She was selected to represent India at the Interpol meeting held in 2004 in Cancun, Mexico. She attended several special pieces of training and courses since 1980, six weeks in Human Resources Management (NITIE), Bombay, one week in Economic Crime Investigation Management, Singapore organized by the Common Wealth Secretariat, UK and a three weeks program in Advanced Management at the National Police Academy at Hyderabad.

She further served as the chairperson of the All India Women in Police, Uttarakhand Police, she hosted the 2nd Women in Police Conference that was praised by the President of India as "an excellent performance". Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya had become Uttarakhand's DGP in 2004. She was the country's second woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, the first being Kiran Bedi. During her three-decades-long career, she handled many sensitive cases. Bhattacharya also served as the Inspector General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

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Retired in 2007 from Police service.

She had various interests which included writing poetry and took part in dramatics. She also made a guest appearance in Udaan (TV series) which was based on her life, written and directed by her sister Kavita Chaudhary. After retiring in 2007, she contested the Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar on the Aam Aadmi Party ticket in 2014.

The former DGP passed away at the age of 72 on the night of August 26, 2019, at a hospital in Mumbai where she had been undergoing treatment for the previous six months. She is survived by her husband and two daughters. "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," the IPS association tweeted in her honour.

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