Ravindra Kishore Sinha, popularly known as RK Sinha, died on 30 October 2026 at his residence in Noida after a brief illness. He was 75. The veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader, former Rajya Sabha member from Bihar and founder of SIS Security India Limited, rose from a trainee reporter in Patna to head one of the largest security groups in the Asia Pacific.
Who Was RK Sinha?
Ravindra Kishore Sinha, known as RK Sinha, was an Indian businessman, journalist, author and Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Bihar. He founded Security and Intelligence Services India Limited and served as a Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar between 2014 and 2020.
Sinha was born on 22 September 1951 in Buxar in Bihar. His ancestral village was Bahiyara in Koilwar block of Bhojpur district, the same region associated with 1857 leader Veer Kunwar Singh. He spent his childhood in Patna, where his father worked in the state legislature secretariat.
He graduated in political science from AN College in Patna and later studied law. During his student years he leaned towards the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and came in contact with Jan Sangh leaders. He started work as a trainee reporter with Hindi and English papers in Patna, including The Searchlight and Pradeep, and covered crime and politics.
In 1971 he worked as a war correspondent during the India Pakistan war and spent time with soldiers of the Bihar Regiment at the front. The experience shaped his later thinking on jobs for ex-servicemen. He also wrote Jan Andolan, a research based book on the student movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan in Bihar between 1970 and 1975.
Sinha was married to Rita Kishore Sinha, an advocate. The couple had two children, son Rituraj Kishore Sinha and daughter Revoli Sinha. Rituraj later joined the family business and also served as a national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
How RK Sinha Built SIS Security India Limited
Sinha set up Security and Intelligence Services in February 1974 from a small garage in Patna. He was 23. He used about ₹250, which he had received as severance after losing his reporting job, and started with a team of two.
The idea came from his war reporting. He had seen the discipline of soldiers and the lack of jobs for them after the 1971 war. A builder friend needed guards for a construction site. Sinha contacted the Danapur Regimental Centre, selected 14 retired soldiers and posted them at a monthly pay of about ₹400 each.
Early growth was slow but steady. The firm operated from his Patna home at 94 Patliputra for several years. Bihar Foundry, run by industrialist Hari Budhia, became a large early client and gave Sinha practical training in guarding industrial sites in the coal belt. Within a year the firm had about 250 guards. The company was formally incorporated as Security and Intelligence Services India Limited in January 1985.
| Year | Milestone in SIS growth |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Launch in Patna garage with 2 staff and 14 ex-servicemen guards |
| 1988 | Start of training division for guards and graduate officers |
| 2005 | Pan India expansion from 14 to 52 offices and entry into cash logistics |
| 2008 | Purchase of Chubb Security Personnel in Australia for about $300 million |
| 2017 | Initial public offer and listing on BSE and NSE |
The 2008 deal made SIS the first Indian multinational in the security business. Sinha sold about 14 percent of his holding to New York investor D E Shaw to partly fund the purchase. Around the same time SIS formed a joint venture with Prosegur of Spain for cash management. The company later added facility management as a third vertical.
By 2026 the group reported a presence in more than 630 districts with 374 branches, 20 regional offices and 20 training centres. It employed about 2.5 lakh people and served more than 42,000 customer sites in India, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Annual revenue had crossed ₹15,982 crore in 2025-26. Sinha served as Founder and Group Chairman and, in his last years, as Chairman Emeritus. His son Rituraj Kishore Sinha serves as Group Managing Director.
Political Journey From Jan Sangh to Rajya Sabha
Sinha entered public life through the Jan Sangh. He joined the organisation in 1966 after meeting Deendayal Upadhyaya. He later counted among the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was formed in 1980. He held several posts in the Bihar unit and in the central organisation over the next three decades. He also headed the Bihar Election Campaign Committee during a phase when the party recorded strong results in assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party nominated Sinha to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2014. He was elected unopposed and served one full term from 10 April 2014 to 9 April 2020. Amarendra Dhari Singh succeeded him from the state. During his nomination he declared family assets of nearly ₹800 crore, which made him one of the richest members of the Upper House at that time.
In Parliament he served on the Standing Committee on Home Affairs and the Standing Committee on External Affairs. He was also a member of the Consultative Committee on Labour and Employment, the House Committee and the Committee on Petitions. He served on Hindi advisory committees for law, telecom and women and child development, and on bodies linked to commerce, wildlife and railways. His parliamentary record shows 78 percent attendance, participation in 31 debates and 86 questions. He introduced the private member Right to Breathe Clean Air Bill in 2019, which lapsed at the end of his term.
Outside Parliament, Sinha served as Adviser to the Ministry of Human Resource Development from 1999 to 2004. In 2016 he became Chairman of the board of Hindusthan Samachar, a multilingual news agency. He remained active in party and social forums after his Rajya Sabha term ended in 2020.
Books, Social Work and Final Tributes
Sinha wrote more than 20 books. Apart from Jan Andolan, his titles include Me and My Guru, Mahamanav Mrityunjay, By The Way and Samay Ka Sach. He also wrote manuals on industrial security, loss prevention and training. He contributed opinion articles to newspapers and taught as a guest speaker on security and disaster management.
His philanthropy focused on skills and jobs. Organisations linked to him and the SIS group skilled more than 2 lakh youth in Bihar and Jharkhand and helped provide regular employment to over 1 lakh people from weaker sections. He supported dowry free community marriages, temple upkeep, public libraries, free ambulance services and flood relief over four decades. He chaired the Awasar Trust and the Indian Public School in the Dehradun Mussoorie Valley. He served as Executive Chairman of the International Institute of Security and Safety Management. In 2013 the Central Association of Private Security Industry gave him a lifetime achievement award.
Sinha died on Friday, 30 October 2026, at his home in Noida. Family members said he had been unwell for some time and had earlier received treatment in Singapore. He is survived by his wife Rita, son Rituraj and daughter Revoli. SIS Limited informed the BSE and NSE on the same day about the death of its Chairman Emeritus and Founder.
Condolences poured in from across parties. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said his work gave a new identity to the private security industry and recalled his service to the nation, social work and media. Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Nabin paid floral tributes and recalled his role from the formative years of the party and in job creation. Union minister Nitin Gadkari described his rise from zero as an inspiration for workers. Leaders including Yogi Adityanath, Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad also paid tributes. The mortal remains were brought from Delhi to Patna for public homage at Annapurna Bhawan in Patliputra.
Key Takeaways
- Ravindra Kishore Sinha died on 30 October 2026 in Noida at the age of 75.
- Sinha founded SIS Security India Limited in 1974 in Patna with about ₹250 and 14 ex-servicemen.
- He served as a Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar from 10 April 2014 to 9 April 2020.
- He joined the Jan Sangh in 1966 and later counted among the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party formed in 1980.
- SIS acquired Chubb Security Personnel in Australia in 2008 and was listed on the BSE and NSE in 2017.
