SSB Director General Sanjay Singhal has taken additional charge as ITBP Director General from 31 October 2026 after Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor retired. Air Marshal Vikram Gaur has become Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, the first Indian Air Force officer to hold the post.
What Is the New ITBP Leadership Change?
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the order for the change on 27 October 2026. The order gave Sanjay Singhal, Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal, additional charge as Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The charge took effect after Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor retired on 31 October 2026.
Singhal will head both forces at the same time. He will continue as chief of the SSB while managing the ITBP. The arrangement will last till a regular ITBP chief is appointed or till further orders are issued. No regular appointment had been announced when the order was issued.
Singhal assumed the additional charge at ITBP headquarters in New Delhi and inspected the ceremonial Guard of Honour. The interim arrangement keeps leadership continuity in the force that guards the 3,488 km India China border along the Line of Actual Control.
Who Is Sanjay Singhal?
Sanjay Singhal is a 1993 batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He was born on 27 December 1968 in Ghaziabad. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and a postgraduate diploma in police management. He joined the Indian Police Service in September 1993.
Singhal is serving as the 27th Director General of the SSB since 1 September 2025. He took over after Amrit Mohan Prasad retired. His tenure as SSB chief is fixed till 31 December 2028, unless fresh orders change it.
Before leading the SSB, Singhal served as Special Director General in the Border Security Force from November 2024. The BSF guards the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. This posting gave him senior level experience in border management.
Singhal knows the ITBP well. He served in the force from 2008 to 2015 as Deputy Inspector General and later as Inspector General. He worked as DIG at Sector Headquarters in Dehradun and as IG of the Eastern Frontier, handling border security, intelligence and operations. This earlier stint is expected to help him settle quickly into the top role.
In Uttar Pradesh, he served as Superintendent of Police in districts, commanded units of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, and later worked as Additional Director General for Establishment, Railways and Crime. His service has earned him the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, the Kathin Seva Medal and a United Nations medal for service in Kosovo.
Who Was Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor?
Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor is a 1990 batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre. He was born on 21 October 1966 in Jind, Haryana. He studied mechanical engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. He joined the service in September 1991.
Kapoor served as Director General of Police, Haryana from August 2023. He was sent on leave in October 2025 after his name figured in the events that followed the suicide of IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar. He had earlier worked with the Central Bureau of Investigation as Superintendent of Police and Deputy Inspector General between 2002 and 2008. He also served in a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in 2001 and 2002.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed him Director General of the ITBP in January 2026. He succeeded Praveen Kumar, who moved as Director General of the BSF. Kapoor led the force for about ten months, till his retirement on 31 October 2026.
During his short tenure, the ITBP raised specialised Shaurya commandos trained with support from the Army, set up drone platoons in border battalions for surveillance along the border, and held a joint synergy conference with the Army at Chushul in eastern Ladakh. On 22 October 2026 at an ITBP event in Alwar, Rajasthan, he said face-offs with Chinese troops continued at some places in Arunachal Pradesh and praised the role of the commandos.
What Is the ITBP?
The ITBP stands for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. It is a Central Armed Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is the main force that guards the India China border.
The force was raised on 24 October 1962 after the India China war of 1962. It was created to reorganise intelligence and security along the Indo Tibetan frontier. It began with four battalions under the Central Reserve Police Force Act. Parliament later passed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act in 1992, with rules framed in 1994. In 2004, it took over the full India China border duty under the idea of one border one force.
| ITBP Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full form | Indo-Tibetan Border Police |
| Raised on | 24 October 1962 |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Motto | Shaurya Dridhata Karm Nishtha, which means valour, determination and devotion to duty |
| Border guarded | 3,488 km from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh |
| Force nickname | Himveers, or snow warriors |
ITBP posts stand at heights from 9,000 feet to more than 18,000 feet. Many posts face snowstorms, avalanches and temperatures below minus 40 degrees Celsius. The force trains its men in mountaineering, skiing and high altitude warfare.
Apart from border guarding, the ITBP handles disaster relief in the Himalayas as a first responder, internal security duties including anti Naxal operations, security for important installations and persons, and duties abroad in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
What Is the SSB?
The SSB stands for the Sashastra Seema Bal, which means Armed Border Force in English. It is a Central Armed Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It guards the open borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
The force began as the Special Service Bureau in early 1963 after the 1962 war with China. Its first aim was to build the confidence of border people and strengthen their ability to resist hostile action. It worked under the Cabinet Secretariat at that stage.
The role changed after the Kargil War and the report on national security reform. The government adopted the principle of one border one force. Control of the SSB moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs in January 2001. It became the Lead Intelligence Agency for the Indo Nepal border in June 2001 and took charge of the 1,751 km Nepal border. In March 2004, it also took charge of the 699 km Bhutan border. Parliament passed the Sashastra Seema Bal Act in 2007 to give it a clear legal base.
| SSB Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full form | Sashastra Seema Bal |
| Earlier name | Special Service Bureau, set up in 1963 |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Motto | Service, Security and Brotherhood |
| Borders guarded | 1,751 km with Nepal and 699 km with Bhutan across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh |
The SSB stops cross border crime, smuggling, human trafficking, fake currency movement and entry of anti national elements. It also performs election duties, internal security tasks and disaster relief. It received the President’s Colours in March 2004 and was among the first border forces to raise women battalions.
ITBP vs SSB: How the Two Border Forces Differ
Both the ITBP and the SSB are Central Armed Police Forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Both were born after the 1962 war. Their tasks and terrains are very different.
| Point | ITBP | SSB |
|---|---|---|
| Full form | Indo-Tibetan Border Police | Sashastra Seema Bal |
| Set up | 24 October 1962 | As Special Service Bureau in 1963, renamed in 2001 |
| Main border | China, 3,488 km along the Line of Actual Control | Nepal, 1,751 km, and Bhutan, 699 km |
| Terrain | High Himalayas, mostly above 9,000 feet | Plains, forests and low hills with open and unfenced borders |
| Core skill | Mountain warfare, skiing, high altitude survival | Border checking, intelligence, anti smuggling and community contact |
| Motto | Shaurya Dridhata Karm Nishtha | Service, Security and Brotherhood |
Singhal is one of the few officers to have served in the BSF, the ITBP and the SSB. The BSF guards the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders. This spread of experience is useful when he now heads two forces with opposite border challenges, one frozen and high, the other open and populated.
Who Is Air Marshal Vikram Gaur?
Air Marshal Vikram Gaur is a fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force with more than three decades of service. He was commissioned in the Flying Branch on 15 December 1990. He belongs to the 77th course of the National Defence Academy and is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College. He was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in July 2026.
Gaur has flown more than 3,200 hours on fighter aircraft, including the Su-30MKI. He is operational on four types of fighter aircraft. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Instrument Rating Instructor and Examiner. He is also cleared for low level aerobatics on the Su-30MKI.
As a Wing Commander, he commanded No. 20 Squadron, a frontline Su-30MKI unit at Pune, from November 2008 to December 2010. The squadron became the first type training squadron for the aircraft. Under him, it set standard operating procedures, held its first weapons camp and field tested air to ground weapons. The unit trained more than 100 aircrew while keeping a strong flight safety record.
Gaur later led air tasking and strike planning work at Headquarters Western Air Command. He helped plan exercises Gauntlet V and Gauntlet VI and worked on joint air land integration with the Army. He served as Air Attache in Kabul from 2015 to 2018. He also commanded No. 40 Wing at Maharajpur in Gwalior and handled Air Staff Requirements and C4ISR tasks at Air Headquarters. C4ISR stands for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
He served as Air Officer Commanding for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from December 2023 to October 2024. He then joined the Department of Military Affairs as Joint Secretary for Air and Staff Duties in October 2024. He took part in Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil conflict in 1999. His honours include the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2013, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021 and a Chief of the Air Staff Commendation in 2003.
What Is the Department of Military Affairs?
The Department of Military Affairs is a department under the Ministry of Defence. It became operational on 1 January 2020. It is the fifth department in the Ministry, along with Defence, Defence Production, Defence Research and Development, and Ex Servicemen Welfare.
The department was created with the post of Chief of Defence Staff. The Chief of Defence Staff is its Secretary. The first Chief of Defence Staff was General Bipin Rawat, who took charge on 1 January 2020. The Chief acts as the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister on tri service matters, permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, member of the Defence Acquisition Council and military adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority.
The core work of the department is jointness among the Army, Navy and Air Force. Its tasks include joint planning, joint training and staffing, joint procurement planning, restructuring of commands towards theatre commands, management of tri service organisations, and better use of resources. It deals with the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Territorial Army and the Integrated Headquarters.
The post of Additional Secretary in the DMA has earlier been held by Army and Navy officers. Lieutenant General Anil Puri and Vice Admiral Atul Anand are among those who served in the post. Gaur is the first Air Force officer to reach this level in the department. His appointment brings direct fighter operations and air planning experience into higher defence management at a time when joint operations, air defence, drones and space based support need close coordination among the three services.
Key Takeaways
- The Ministry of Home Affairs order of 27 October 2026 gave SSB chief Sanjay Singhal additional charge as ITBP Director General from 31 October 2026.
- Sanjay Singhal is a 1993 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer and the 27th Director General of the SSB since 1 September 2025 with tenure till 31 December 2028.
- Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor, a 1990 batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, led the ITBP from January 2026 till retirement on 31 October 2026.
- The ITBP, raised on 24 October 1962, guards 3,488 km of the India China border with the motto Shaurya Dridhata Karm Nishtha, while the SSB, started as the Special Service Bureau in 1963, guards the Nepal and Bhutan borders with the motto Service, Security and Brotherhood.
- Air Marshal Vikram Gaur became the first IAF officer appointed Additional Secretary in the DMA, a department created on 1 January 2020 and headed by the Chief of Defence Staff as Secretary.
