Lucknow: Rahul Srivastav, the officer who played a leading role in transforming Uttar Pradesh Police into one of the country's most visible and digitally connected police forces, has been inducted into the Indian Police Service (IPS) after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs approved the promotion of 28 Provincial Police Service (PPS) officers from Uttar Pradesh.
The promotions, cleared after the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) process and formal approval by the Union government, cover officers from the 1997 to 2000 PPS batches. Along with Rahul, officers including Purnendu Singh, Kamal Kishore, Suresh Chandra Rawat, Shoeb Iqbal, Vikas Tripathi and Abhay Nath Tripathi have also been elevated to the IPS cadre.
Currently serving as Public Relations Officer and Social Media Head of Uttar Pradesh Police, Rahul has spent more than two decades across operational policing, intelligence, security, policy formulation and public communication. Over the years, he has emerged as one of the architects of UP Police's digital outreach, combining technology, citizen engagement and strategic communication to reshape the force's public interface.
Rahul is a third-generation cop. His father was in the Police and died at 41 years, and his grandfather too was a cop. Incidentally, Rahul topped the UPPCS, and despite that that chose the PPS - a first ever choice by any topper of UP Public Service Commission - inspired by memories of his father and grandfather services to the nation as police officers.
Rahul first headed the UP Police social media initiative between 2016 and 2019 before returning to the role in May 2025 after serving as Additional SP in the Anti-Terrorist Squad, where he supervised the Social Media Monitoring Centre. His assignments have also included SP City Jhansi, Deputy SP (IT) at Intelligence Headquarters, CM Security and district policing in Varanasi, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Ghaziabad.
Among his most significant contributions has been building UP Police's presence across major digital platforms. He led the launch of UP Police on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram, introduced citizen-centric digital services and developed systems for online grievance redressal and social media sentiment analysis. He also established an integrated social and electronic media monitoring centre to support real-time analysis and coordinated responses.
Under his leadership, UP Police introduced several initiatives that later became reference points for other law enforcement agencies. These included the country's first police fact-check handle, a dedicated handle for Non-Resident Indians, the official social media account for Kumbh policing, district-wide WhatsApp helplines, Digital Volunteer and Digital Warrior programmes, and more than 100 social media cells across the state. He also drafted the UP Police Social Media policy and established partnerships with institutions such as IITs and IIMs.
Rahul also expanded the force's digital storytelling through podcasts, awareness films and public campaigns. He conceptualised the 'Beyond the Badge' podcast series featuring senior police officers, supervised the production of hundreds of short films on cybercrime, women's safety and policing, and coordinated campaigns featuring actors including Nana Patekar, Sanjay Mishra and others to spread awareness on digital fraud and public safety.
His work has extended beyond communication into community policing and research. He introduced initiatives such as Kumbh Police Mitra, adopted Garhmau village for digital transformation while serving as SP City Jhansi, contributed to research on policing during Kumbh and represented UP Police at international and national conferences on technology and policing. He is also the only police officer in the state to have delivered two TEDx talks.
Rahul's work has earned several recognitions, including the President's Gallantry Medal, the FICCI SMART Policing Award, SKOCH Gold Award 2025, two ET GovTech Gold Awards in 2026 and the Mahakumbh Seva Medal. He also received a joint appreciation certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the effective use of social media in policing.
An alumnus of Banaras Hindu University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Rahul later earned a law degree from Lucknow University and a postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management from IMT Ghaziabad. He topped the UP Provincial Civil Service Examination in the 2000 batch and also secured top rank in Political Science at BHU and M.Phil in Central Asian Studies at JNU.
The latest promotions are expected to strengthen the senior leadership of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
BI Bureau
