Mr. Neeraj Kumar Jadaun was born and brought up in Kanpur. After school, he left the city and pursued his B.Tech in computer science from IIT BHU. After college, he worked in Noida, Bengaluru, and later on, in the UK. It was in 2008, while he was in Bangalore when he received the worst news of his life. His father was murdered! He rushed back to his home-town and sought the police’s help. But he was extremely heartbroken and disappointed to see the attitude of the police team appointed in the case. They were all providing support to the accused and trying to cover up his crime. This compelled Mr. Neeraj to take matters into his own hands. He bid farewell to his cushiony job and started preparing for UPSC exams. He had ascertained that he had to get into the police service and secure justice for this deceased father.
Preparing for UPSC:
In 2010, Mr. Neeraj came to Kanpur and sat down to prepare for the examination. He gave his first attempt in 2011 when he cleared his mains and Prelims but could not get past the Interview. In his second attempt, his rank fell short and because of the age limit set by the UPSC examinations, he could not apply for a third attempt. He left his job in August 2013 and joined IP&TAFS service as this was allotted to him after Civil Services Examination, 2012. He was extremely disheartened but not for long. “I came across the news that now the candidates can apply up to age 32. My happiness shot up, instantly. This was my last chance and I had to give my best”, Mr. Neeraj told Indian Masterminds.
Filled with new-found enthusiasm, he started preparing and finally achieved his goal, and cleared CSE-2014 scoring AIR-rank 140 in his third attempt and became an IPS Officer!
Duty First:
Mr. Neeraj kept his duty above anything, and actively protected the citizens. While being posted as the SP of Ghaziabad, in February 2020, he handled the tense situation at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border during the NRC and CAA protests and violence in Delhi. The rioters were continuously trying to enter Ghaziabad through highly sensitive points, and Mr. Neeraj gave his all to prevent them from doing so. He not only prevented the movement on the border but also averted the firing in riots. “They were trying to set a house ablaze after robbing the shops, creating a riot 100 meters away from the Lal Bagh vegetable market. Women and children were crying on the terraces. I stormed the border and drove into Delhi with my team, carrying hundreds of petrol bombs and stones, and gave a warning to the rioters. About 7 to 8 families were saved that day”, said Mr. Neeraj.
He further spoke about the Delhi riots. “North-East Delhi was burning. We were defending the area of Ghaziabad because the borders fell under highly sensitive points. We could see houses burning 200-300m away from us. We tried to protect the properties as well as the civilians. The riots weren’t happening on our side of the border but we crossed the border and entered the zone defending the civilians with all our power.” It was mostly because of Mr. Neeraj and his team that Ghaziabad didn’t suffer any kind of damage.
“Not a single person died in Ghaziabad because of the riots, not even a single property was damaged and not even a single house was burned. That was a huge achievement for us”, Mr. Neeraj exclaimed, proudly.
Even during times of Covid, Ghaziabad was the only district that ensured the safe accommodation to lakhs of migrant workers who were coming from different parts of the country such as Punjab and Haryana. “We transported thousands of these migrant laborers, and not even a single accident happened and not even a single migrant worker died because of that. We also provided food and rations to them” says Mr. Neeraj.
Personal Challenges:
Mr. Neeraj talked to Indian Masterminds, about the various challenges and disappointments that he had to face. The biggest was not being able to see his son at the time when he was born. “I could not see my son as there was a riot-like situation in Aligarh Muslim University between 12-18 Feb 2019. My son was born on 17th Feb. I could only see him on 17th midnight once the situation diffused in AMU.”
Even after facing a lot of hardships in life, Mr. Neeraj Kumar Jadaun has always stood up for what is right and has defended his district with utmost zeal and valor.
Indian Masterminds wishes him the best for all his future endeavors.
