Odisha IPS Officer Himansu Kumar Lal Takes Charge of STF & EOW, Vows Zero Tolerance Against Crime

Senior IPS officer Himansu Kumar Lal, a 2003‑batch officer, has officially assumed charge as Inspector General of the Special Task Force (STF) and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Odisha.

Lal, who earlier served as STF DIG in 2018 and DCP Bhubaneswar, was most recently IG of the Northern Range, Sambalpur.

Upon taking charge, Lal outlined a hardline strategy against organised crime, narcotics, and financial fraud. His priorities include:

• Making Odisha drug‑free through intensified raids on narcotics networks.
• Cracking down on organised crime syndicates and gangsters with zero tolerance.
• Targeting illegal cattle smuggling and monitoring Bangladeshi infiltration.
• Acting firmly against illegal mining and related irregularities.

Lal stressed that arrests alone are not enough — conviction rates must rise.

He plans to leverage new criminal laws and technology, invoking Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to strengthen cases against drug traffickers and mafias.

Declaring that “no illegal activity will be tolerated,” Lal warned that the era of protected mafias is over, signalling a more aggressive phase for both STF and EOW operations in Odisha.