New Delhi [India], September 16 (ANI): IPS officer Sanjukta Parashar, popularly known as the “Iron Lady of Assam”, has become the first woman Inspector General to take charge of the CRPF’s specialised jungle warfare commando unit, CoBRA.
A 2006-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Parashar joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) earlier this month and was given charge of the force’s elite CoBRA unit last week.
She earned the “Iron Lady” tag for leading operations against the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) during her tenure as Superintendent of Police in Sonitpur in 2013-14.
Parashar, who hails from Assam, has served in both the state police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), where she handled counter-terrorism investigations. Before she was appointed Inspector General of CoBRA, she was heading the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police.
She studied political science at Indraprastha College, University of Delhi, and subsequently pursued a PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Parashar takes over CoBRA at a time when the force continues to secure extensive forested areas in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand that were previously affected by Left-Wing Extremism. The force has played a significant role in counter-insurgency operations in these areas. Two CoBRA battalions are also deployed in Manipur, where intermittent violence linked to ethnic tensions has continued.
Her appointment comes amid a growing presence of women officers in senior CRPF operational roles, with women Inspector Generals also heading formations covering Jammu, the Rapid Action Force (RAF), the Northeast, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The CRPF’s specialised commando unit, CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), created to deal with precisely such challenges, has now got a leader whose career has itself been closely associated with counter-insurgency operations and difficult operational conditions.
Parashar’s appointment is being considered significant because her past operational experience is directly linked to CoBRA’s core role – jungle and guerrilla warfare. Information about her appointment as IG in the CRPF emerged in August 2026.
This is not merely the posting of a senior police officer. It is being considered important at a time when the nature of security challenges is changing across different parts of the country and the role of specially trained forces is increasing in operations against armed groups in forests, mountains and border areas.
CoBRA has been specifically trained for guerrilla and jungle warfare. Long-distance foot operations in dense forests, movement through difficult terrain, ambush and counter-ambush operations, dealing with IED threats, intelligence-based action and precision operations against armed insurgents are among its key areas of expertise.
CoBRA commandos have long played an important role in anti-Naxal operations. The force has conducted operations in areas such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra, where the terrain itself remains a constant challenge even for the regular security apparatus.
This is why giving command of CoBRA to an officer who gained operational leadership experience in an insurgency-affected area early in her career is significant in itself.
Parashar’s identity has not been that of an officer confined to an office and administrative decision-making. During her early postings in Assam, she got an opportunity to work in insurgency-affected areas.
Dense forests, armed insurgents, constantly changing situations and the challenge of maintaining security at the local level, Parashar played an active role in field operations amid all these circumstances. That was the period that gave her a distinct identity across the country.
Her active role and field leadership in operations against armed insurgents established her image as an officer who accepts challenges head-on rather than backing away from them. It was against this background that she came to be known as the ‘Iron Lady of Assam’.
What is noteworthy now is that the officer whose identity was built through counter-insurgency operations in the forests of Assam has become the IG of one of the country’s key jungle-warfare forces. (ANI)
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