# Arup Patnaik

Arup Patnaik (born 8 September 1955) is a retired Indian Police Service officer who served as the 36th Police Commissioner of Mumbai. He retired on 30 September 2015 after a 36-year career in the Maharashtra Police. He is a recipient of the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2003 and the Indian Police Medal for meritorious services in 1994.
Patnaik previously served as the Chairman of Odisha's State Youth Welfare Board, the Biju Yuva Vahini, and was accorded the rank and status of Minister of State by the Odisha State Government. Arup Patnaik co-founded the Konark Cancer Foundation.

## Early life

Patnaik was born on 8 September 1955 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He studied up to Class 6 in Cuttack's Pyarimohan Academy and later attended Mayo College, Ajmer, from where he passed his Indian School Certificate examination in 1971.
He received the National Science Talent Search Scholarship awarded by the NCERT. He completed his B.Sc. Chemistry honors degree from Delhi University. While pursuing his postgraduate studies in chemistry, he left to join the State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer in 1976 and worked there until 1979.

## Police career

Patnaik joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1979 and was posted as probationary assistant superintendent of police, Nasik, from 1981 to 1982 and as superintendent of police, Latur, from 1983 to 1986. Patnaik was then transferred to Nagpur from 1986 to 1988. After Nagpur, Patnaik was posted as superintendent of police, Jalgaon, from 1988 to 1991. In Mumbai, he was Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone VII from March 1991 until March 1994.
He led the investigation into the Bombay riots in 1992 to 1993. He was a member of the 1993 Bomb Blast team and participated in the seizure of 1500 kg of RDX at Mumbra in 1993. Patnaik went on deputation to the Central Bureau of Investigation in March 1994 and supervised investigations into the multi-crore Harshad Mehta security scam. He was the Additional Commissioner of Police, South Mumbai, from 1999 to 2001.
On promotion as Inspector General of Police, he headed the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) from 2001 to 2005. He moved back to the Mumbai Police Commission as Joint Commissioner of Police, Law & Order, a post he held between 2005 and 2007. In 2007, Patnaik was promoted to Addl. Director-General of Police, Maharashtra, serving from July 2007 to February 2011. From February 2011 to August 2012, Patnaik was appointed as the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai.
Patnaik was transferred from his post as Commissioner of Police after the Azad Maidan riots and was succeeded by Satyapal Singh in 2012. Patnaik joined the Biju Janata Dal in 2018. In the 2019 general election, he contested the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP candidate, Aparajita Sarangi, won the election. On 25 October 2019, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appointed Arup Patnaik as the Convenor of the Biju Janata Dal social service wing, 'Odisha Mo Parivar. On 30 October 2019, Arup Patnaik was inducted as a Co-Opted Member of the House Committee of the Odisha Assembly to look into aspects of environmental pollution in the state.

## Personal life

Arup Patnaik is married to Vidhurita, a former Senior Executive with M/s Bennett Coleman and Company Limited The Times Group and has two children, Chirantan and Tanmay.
Along with neurosurgeon B. K. Misra and cardiac surgeon Ramakanta Panda, he established the Konark Cancer Foundation for patients coming to the Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer treatment, providing them with financial and logistical support such as food, shelter, and medication.

## In popular culture

* Hussain Zaidi's 2002 book, Black Friday, detailed the 1993 Mumbai bombings, an attack comprising 13 explosions that killed 250 people. Zaidi dedicated a chapter to Patnaik and his handling of the situation. The book was adapted into a film by Anurag Kashyap, also titled Black Friday, in which Sharad Ponkshe played Patnaik.