Field Policing

A major part of his service has been spent in field policing duties. He has performed these with aplomb and has received a number of accolades and appreciations while performing them.
He began his field assignments as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Bhopal district (1993) and this was followed by City Superintendent of Police of Central Kotwali sub-division of Indore (1994 – June 1995); Additional Superintendent of Police at Mhow in Indore District (July 1995-September 1995) and then Additional Superintendent of Police of Indore City (September 1995 – January 1997). He performed these duties at the junior field level with great enthusiasm and got a reputation to be a go getter especially as the Police Chief of Indore city.
As Superintendent of Police of Dhar District (1998-2001) he excelled in his work in this communally hyper-sensitive arena. The issues arising out of the controversy surrounding the Bhojshala were handled with extreme caution by him as a result of which no communal conflagration occurred in the entire district during his tenure. This was no mean achievement in a district prone to witness a number of communal riots every year. The district also houses the largest Industrial Area of Asia at Pithampur. Here too he introduced the revolutionary scheme called “Industrial Area Peace Plan”, this ensured a sharp decline in labour strikes and related problems in this area. As a result productivity improved and so did profitability and consequent growth of industry and employment in this region. This district was also highly crime prone especially in the Ghat sections of the various national and state highways that crisscrossed the district. He formulated and implemented among other crime control measures the “Ghat Security Plan”. This worked wonders in the Ghat areas and combined with extensive patrolling especially at night and proper dialogue with the public and re-training and motivation of the police force – crime was controlled so well in the district that even after nearly two decades the people of Dhar still remember the Golden days of Policing that existed in Dhar during Varun Kapoor’s tenure.
c9022bde-a044-4dd7-af62-51971727d6fd
He then became Superintendent of Police at Sehore District (2001-2002). Here too he did an outstanding job especially the historic recruitment that he conducted will be remembered for years for its fairness; honesty and purposeful effort. Twenty eight thousand candidates appeared in this recruitment exercise for only 166 constable posts. And in those days of less use of technology it was a challenge to ensure a free and fair recruitment. But it was only Varun Kapoor who could achieve this goal while heading a 5 member high power committee and after putting in tons of labour over an extended period of one and a half months.
Among a host of achievements, one of the major ones was the surrender of dreaded criminal tribe the Kanjars. The criminal elements in these communities (residing in Rajasthan area) had from time immemorial criminally ravaged the border areas of the district and had committed all sorts of heinous crimes on the citizens over centuries. No permanent solution was in sight. Varun Kapoor decided that a permanent and lasting settlement was what was required. Against all odds and opposition from within the police organisation and from outside, he soldiered ahead with an audacious peace plan. He formulated “Kanjar Sudhaar Samities” and through them established contact with the Rajasthan based criminal Kanjars. He also enlisted the active support of the Rajasthan Police. After months of tireless efforts, at last he ensured the surrender of a number of wanted and dreaded Kanjar criminals in January 2003. The tide had turned and other surrenders were subsequently achieved and the problem of centuries moved towards a final finish. Today that area of the state of MP is free from all sorts of criminal activities of Kanjars and they have been resettled with the active support of Rajasthan Government, which was also achieved by Varun Kapoor in his meeting with the then Honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ms Vasundhara Raje Scindia.
He did outstanding enforcement work in the district in the field of Narcotic Drug enforcement. In a number of well planned and orchestrated actions he seized over 100 kilograms (I Quintal) of heroin/brown sugar as well as 250 kilograms (2 .5 Quintals) of illicit Opium, which has been a record since. He was commended with cash reward of 85,000/-. He handled this communally sensitive district with utmost efficiency and no communal incident occurred in his tenure of over three years. Crime control was also perfect and he also led an important encounter of the dreaded interstate bus dacoit called Bahadur. He did commendable work in the field of drug rehabilitation and recovery through his path breaking program called “Ek Prayaas”, hitherto never tried by any police officer anywhere in the state or country. He organised drug de-addiction camps for addicts and those who managed de-addiction he ensured through coordination with other Governmental agencies and NGO’s to get new vistas of employment and thus proper rehabilitation and prevention of relapse into addiction.
Varun Kapoor was then promoted and served as Deputy Inspector General of Police in Chhatarpur Range (2005-2006); Ratlam Range (2006-2009) and then Ujjain Range (2009-2011). In these postings too he performed his duties and responsibilities to the best of his ability. At Chhatarpur he dealt very well with the dacoity and kidnapping for ransom problems prevalent in that region. Certain dreaded dacoits like Gulbadan were gunned down in encounter with police forces and then a number of such elements were neutralized in the region by gallant action by the Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh & Panna police. In Ratlam the communal, Kanjar and Drugs problem was tactfully and energetically taken care off. As DIG of Ujjain Range he did commendable work in the religious events, festivals and processions that are linked with this place of extreme religious importance. Events like Nagpanchami; Shiv Ratri week; Mahakaal sawan savari and other days of large crowd congregations were efficiently managed with proper planning, smooth deployments and systematic implementation.
He then did field policing duties as Additional Director General of Police of Indore Zone (2019-2020). This being the largest and most complicated and challenging Zone in the state – it was his experience and wisdom that ensured that he performed an outstanding job in his stint here too. The zone has nine police districts and three ranges. He ensured a very smooth process of relocation and resettlement of the people displaced by the Sardar sarovar dam. The full height of the waters in the dam was attained in 2019 when all gates were closed. Over 50,000 citizens had to be relocated and resettled in temporary camps and other settlements in a period of only 2 months in the districts of Dhar; Alirajpur; Badwani and Khargone. This logistical and law and order challenge required that Varun Kapoor worked with his team continousaly for hours on end to ensure peaceful and smooth processes. His meticulous planning; extreme hard work and contingency measures ensured an incident free and perfect relocation process. In addition even the relocation of the Omkareshwar hydel project was carried out perfectly in the district of Khandwa. In Indore Zone he also ensured smooth conduct of the 2019 General elections. With a number of VVIP visits it was a challenge for security arrangements but his canny ability and experience ensured a highly acclaimed and ppwerful security arrangement for the elections in the region. The zone is also communally hyper-sensitive and he led the arrangements from the front and ensured absolute peace and calm on the communal front during his tenure in the zone. Even the Ayodhya verdict fallout was very well managed by him in the entire zone. One of his major achievements in Field Policing is his novel; unique and one of its kind program called “Operation Ujjagar”. This is a drive to trace old, filed and forgotten blind murders or cold cases of murder. This entire program was so well conceived and implemented that it brought great laurels for the effort as well as great comfort to the family members of the victim – as they got to know the killer after a long time and in cases which had been almost given up and forgotten. The sense of retribution was immense albeit late but still soul satisfying for them. This drive has till date ensured that 104 cold cases of murder have been reopened and solved and the killers apprehended. This was a significant, extremely relevant and highly effective drive by him for which he was awarded the status of World Record by the World Book of Records of London in the year 2020.