The Iron Lady Takes Command: Assam’s Sanjukta Parashar Now Leads CRPF's CoBRA Force
(Photo - Instagram/Sanjukta Parashar) The 2006-batch IPS officer, known as Assam's ‘Iron Lady’, has become the first woman to lead the CRPF's specialised jungle-warfare force. Her journey from academia and JNU to Assam's insurgency zones, the NIA and now CoBRA offers a different story about women and operational command in India's security forces. In 2006, Sanjukta Parashar entered the Indian Police Service with an All India Rank of 85 in the 2005 Civil Services Examination. Nearly two decades later, the Assam-born officer has now become the first woman officer to hold the post : Inspector General (IG) of the CRPF's elite CoBRA force , a 10-battalion formation trained for jungle warfare and counter-insurgency operations. CRPF headquarters issued her appointment order on September 10, 2026 . She succeeds Danesh Rana , a 1996-batch officer, and takes charge of a specialised force whose personnel operate in difficult terrain and undertake missions involving jungle ...