Major bureaucratic reshuffle in Bihar: Kartikeya K. Sharma appointed new SSP of Patna.

Patna, June 14, 2025: Amid growing criticism over rising crime incidents across Bihar, including in the capital city Patna, the Nitish Kumar-led government has undertaken a major bureaucratic reshuffle in the police administration, transferring Superintendents of Police (SPs) in several districts.

The bureaucratic reshuffle is common in an election year:

In a key move ahead of the Bihar assembly poll 2025, Kartikeya K. Sharma, a 2014-batch IPS officer and the current SP of Purnea, has been appointed as the new Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Patna.

The bureaucratic reshuffle notification was issued by the State Home Department on Saturday.

He replaces Avkash Kumar, who has been shifted and appointed as the Commandant of Bihar Special Armed Police-1 (BSAP-1), Patna.

Apart from Patna SSP, Chandrashekhar Prasad, SP Crime Investigation Department (CID), has been appointed as SP, Law and Order, Patna, Sweety Sahrawat, SP, Patna Central City, will now serve as the SP of Purnea, Ashok Kumar Mishra, SP of Samastipur has been made SP, Special Branch, Shaishav Yadav, SP of Supaul will now serve as Deputy Inspector General of Police (Modernization), Patna and Vidya Sagar, SP, Muzaffarpur Rural, has been posted as SP, ERSS (Emergency Response Support System), Patna.

Vineet Kumar, SP, special Branch has been appointed as SP of Jehanabad, Pramod Kumar Yadav, the commandant of Bihar Special Armed Police-1, Patna is now appointed as SP of Crime Investigation Department (CID), Vishwajeet Dayal, the City SP of Muzaffarpur is now appointed as SP of Jamui and Arvind Pratap Singh, the SP of Jehanabad is appointed as SP of Samastipur.

Besides them, 8 more IPS officers were transferred from the current posts.

This bureaucratic reshuffle comes as part of the government’s damage control exercise following a series of high-profile crimes in Patna and other districts, which had triggered public outrage and criticism from the opposition.

IAS officers also transferred:

This is not an isolated move. The state government had earlier transferred several IAS officers, including Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh, who was elevated to the post of Divisional Commissioner of Patna Range. The then DM of Gaya Tyaga Rajan SM was subsequently appointed as the new DM of Patna.

Political Implications:

The timing of these bureaucratic reshuffles is significant, coming months ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

Political analysts view these transfers as part of a larger strategy by the Nitish Kumar government to revamp governance and address public perception issues ahead of the electoral battle.

Also Read: Bihar government transferred six IAS officers.

EOM.