Sanjukta Parasor Becomes 1st Woman Officer to Lead CRPF CoBRA Unit

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Key takeaways

Senior IPS officer Sanjukta Parasor became the first woman Inspector General to lead the CRPF’s elite CoBRA unit.
She is a 2006-batch IPS officer who earned the name Iron Lady of Assam for leading counter-insurgency operations.
The ministry established 10 CoBRA units between 2008 and 2011 to conduct specialized jungle warfare in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) regions.
CoBRA forces operate in 6 states including Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Assam, and Meghalaya.

Senior IPS officer Sanjukta Parasor has been appointed as the first woman Inspector General to lead the CRPF’s elite CoBRA unit.
She succeeds 1996-batch IPS officer Danesh Rana in this leadership role.
As a 2006-batch IPS officer, she earned the title Iron Lady of Assam for her counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.
She previously served as a Deputy Inspector General in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) where she handled major anti-terror cases.
Her appointment marks a landmark moment for female leadership in specialized jungle warfare and counter-insurgency forces.

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is a specialized wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) created for guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare.
The government raised 10 CoBRA units between 2008 and 2011 to counter Maoist insurgency effectively.
These units are actively deployed in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected regions across Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Assam, and Meghalaya.
The unit specializes in intelligence-led missions, anti-Naxal operations, long-range patrols, and counter-ambush maneuvers in difficult terrain.