Bhubaneswar: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will hold its Empanelment Committee (EC) meeting on August 7 to shortlist three senior IPS officers for appointment as the next Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha.
The exercise has begun ahead of the retirement of incumbent Y B Khurania (IPS:1990:OD). He is due to retire on August 16, 2026.
The UPSC will prepare a panel of three officers and send it to the Odisha government. The state government will appoint one of them as the next DGP.
In May this year, the Odisha government had sent the names of 11 eligible IPS officers to the UPSC.
The list includes Sudhanshu Sarangi (1990 batch); Susanta Kumar Nath and R P Koche (1993 batch); Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa (1994 batch); Ritu Arora, Saumendra Priyadarshi, Santosh Bala and P S Ranpise (1995 batch); and Arun Bothra and Sunita Kakran (1996 batch).
Sudhanshu Sarangi, Susanta Kumar Nath and R P Koche are already serving in the rank of Director General of Police. The remaining officers are serving as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).
Sudhanshu Sarangi, R P Koche and Sanjeeb Panda are learnt to be among the frontrunners for a place in the UPSC panel.
Another DGP-rank officer, Vinaytosh Mishra, is unlikely to be considered. He is due to retire in November 2026 and does not meet the requirement of having at least six months of residual service from the date the vacancy arises.
The UPSC meeting is expected to clear the way for the appointment of Odisha’s next police chief. The final choice, however, will be made by the state government.
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