On India’s frontlines, where sand mafias thrive, tax evaders hide, terror modules operate, prisons simmer, and borders remain tense, women officers have stepped into roles once seen as exclusively male. This Women’s Day, we spotlight six such officers who not only entered these arenas but changed how they function.
SONIA MEENA (IAS, 2013 BATCH, MADHYA PRADESH CADRE)
Taking On the Sand Empire
Sonia Meena’s 2017 face-off with the sand mafia in Chhattarpur marked a turning point in her career. A 2013-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, she was serving as SDM when she began conducting frequent inspections against rampant illegal sand mining.
During one such raid, she intercepted a tractor-trolley carrying illegally extracted sand. The transporter, a habitual offender, resisted, leading to a tense confrontation involving her security team. Criminal proceedings followed. The accused was later killed in an unrelated gang conflict, but the administrative message was clear: law enforcement would not retreat.
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Sonia intensified action against overloading and unauthorised mining, seizing tractors, trolleys and boats used in illegal operations. Penalties imposed during her tenure doubled compared to the previous year.
As District Collector of Anuppur, she later managed coal mining operations in coordination with Coal India, while addressing illegal encroachments on tribal lands and safeguarding areas near the Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve. Across both postings, her approach combined strict enforcement with tighter regulatory systems to curb mining-related crime.
ROHINI DIVAKAR (IRS)
Following the Money, Without Favour
When the Income Tax Department launched coordinated search operations across 40 locations in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Vellore on 2 August this year, it was one of the most extensive crackdowns on Tamil Nadu’s film financing network. At the centre of the operation was IRS officer Rohini Divakar.
The searches targeted producers, distributors and financiers linked to Kollywood, including G.N. Anbu Chezhiyan. The outcome was significant: detection of undisclosed income exceeding ₹200 crore, seizure of ₹26 crore in cash, and gold jewellery worth over ₹3 crore.
But for Divakar, such operations are never impulsive. She underscores that no raid begins without strong and credible intelligence. Months of background verification, pre-search investigation, and meticulous paperwork precede action. Once the legal groundwork under the Income Tax Act is secured and approvals are in place, multiple teams move simultaneously, connected through a central coordination nerve to avoid any gaps.
Handling high-profile individuals often invites attempts at influence. Divakar maintains a firm line: documentation is watertight, procedures are followed strictly, and engagement beyond the legal process is avoided. Even when contacted during searches with attempts to stall action, she does not deviate from protocol.
Security planning is heightened in sensitive cases, but the principle remains constant: approach and action are the same for everyone. In revenue enforcement, where numbers run into hundreds of crores and reputations are at stake, Rohini Divakar’s work reflects a system driven not by headlines, but by preparation, precision, and parity before the law.
LAXMI SINGH (IPS, 2000 BATCH, UTTAR PRADESH CADRE)
Commanding the High-Risk Frontlines
Born in Lucknow and trained as a mechanical engineer, Laxmi Singh entered the Indian Police Service in 2000 as part of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. Over the next two decades, she would rise through some of the state’s most demanding assignments—moving from Senior Superintendent of Police in 2004 to DIG in 2013 and Inspector General in 2018.
Her stint with the Special Task Force (STF) in Gautam Buddha Nagar in early 2018 placed her at the sharpest operational edge of policing. The STF handles organised crime, interstate gangs and terror-linked modules—cases that require intelligence-led precision and swift execution. During her tenure as IG/DIG STF, she oversaw sensitive operations targeting high-value criminals and coordinated multi-district intelligence efforts, strengthening field response systems and inter-agency communication.
Following her STF role, she led the Police Training School in Meerut, focusing on modernisation and capacity-building before taking charge as IG Range Lucknow. In November 2022, she became Uttar Pradesh’s first woman Police Commissioner when she assumed office in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), a high-pressure urban policing post with complex law-and-order dynamics.
A recipient of the Chief Minister’s Excellence Service Police Medal and recognised for advancing computerisation within the police system, Laxmi Singh’s career reflects operational command as well as institutional reform.
ASHA SINHA (IPS, 1982 BATCH, JHARKHAND CADRE)
Securing India’s Strategic Nerves
When Asha Sinha joined the Indian Police Service in 1982, there were barely a dozen women in uniform nationwide. A 1982-batch officer of the Jharkhand cadre, she went on to serve Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, besides a key central deputation with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Her historic breakthrough came when she became the first woman to head a paramilitary force unit in India, commanding the CISF unit at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai. Leading an overwhelmingly male force, she strengthened high-security protocols, curbed theft rackets, dismantled mafia influence within the dockyard, and resolved long-pending labour issues. During the tense days following the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, her unit ensured uninterrupted protection of personnel and strategic installations.
Back in Jharkhand, she later headed Intelligence (Special Branch) at a time when Naxal violence posed severe threats. She assumed charge soon after a Special Branch Inspector was killed by extremists and went on to oversee intelligence coordination during high-stakes Assembly and Lok Sabha elections marked by heavy VVIP movement and insurgent risks. Accurate, timely intelligence became the backbone of peaceful polling.
She also led the CID (Crime Branch), navigating evolving crime patterns in an era that shifted from conventional offences to technology-driven criminal networks. Across four decades, she emphasised professionalism, impartiality and internal inclusion—advocating equal opportunity within the force.
Now retired, Asha Sinha’s legacy rests not just on the posts she held, but on the institutional confidence she built in spaces where women leaders were once rare.
KIRAN BEDI (IPS, 1972 BATCH, AGMUT CADRE)
Rewriting the Rules Behind Bars
India’s first woman IPS officer, Kiran Bedi of the 1972 AGMUT cadre, transformed prison administration during her tenure as Inspector General (Prisons), Tihar Jail, in the early 1990s.
When she took charge of Asia’s largest prison complex, Tihar was overcrowded, violence-prone and synonymous with neglect. Bedi shifted the focus from mere confinement to correction. She introduced large-scale literacy drives, vocational training programmes, and formal education opportunities for inmates. Spiritual and behavioural reform initiatives, including yoga, meditation and the Vipassana programme, were integrated to address stress and aggression inside the prison system.
Transparency became a cornerstone of her approach. She strengthened grievance redressal mechanisms, encouraged inmate participation in management processes, and opened the prison to oversight by civil society groups. Legal aid camps were organised to assist undertrials languishing without representation, and drug de-addiction programmes were expanded.
Administrative reforms included improved sanitation, better food systems, skill-building workshops, and structured daily routines aimed at discipline and rehabilitation. Her tenure repositioned Tihar as a model for correctional reform, drawing international attention to India’s evolving prison management practices.
After her policing career, she continued working on prison and social reform through the Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation initiatives. Decades later, her work at Tihar remains a reference point in discussions on humane and reform-oriented incarceration in India.
ARCHANA RAMASUNDARAM (IPS, 1980 BATCH, TAMIL NADU CADRE)
Leading the Force at the Borders
An IPS officer of the 1980 batch from the Tamil Nadu cadre, Archana Ramasundaram built a career across state policing, central investigation, vigilance, and armed border management, culminating in her appointment as Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). She became the first woman to head a Central Armed Police Force, taking command of a force responsible for guarding India’s borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
Before leading the SSB, she served in senior roles in Tamil Nadu Police, including law-and-order and crime administration, and later moved on central deputation. She held key positions in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), where she handled sensitive investigations and administrative oversight. Her experience in vigilance and anti-corruption assignments strengthened her credentials in institutional discipline and internal accountability.
At the SSB, she focused on operational readiness along open and porous international borders—areas prone to smuggling, human trafficking and cross-border crime. Her tenure emphasised improved intelligence coordination, modernised training protocols, and welfare measures for personnel deployed in remote, high-altitude terrains. Strengthening gender inclusion within the force also remained a priority.
Known for her firm administrative style, she navigated complex inter-agency dynamics while reinforcing the SSB’s dual mandate: border security and community engagement in frontier regions. Her leadership marked a significant moment in the evolution of India’s armed police forces, signalling a shift in who commands at the highest levels of uniformed service.
BEYOND SYMBOLISM
These officers did not merely enter male-dominated spaces; they recalibrated systems from within. From mines and money trails to intelligence grids, prisons, and borders, they expanded the definition of command.
This Women’s Day, their journeys underline a powerful shift: India’s toughest posts are no longer defined by gender, but by grit, competence, and reform.
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