Prayagraj Commissionerate has made another change in its police administration, with Police Commissioner Piyush Mordia assigning new responsibilities to four IPS officers. IPS officer Sonam Kumar, who recently joined Prayagraj after being transferred from Agra, has been given charge as DCP Ganganagar. Kuldeep Singh Gunawat, who was serving as DCP Ganganagar, has been appointed DCP Crime. Manish Kumar Shandilya, who was handling the responsibilities of DCP Crime and Cyber Crime, has been assigned charge of DCP Traffic, Lines and UP-112. IPS officer Shruti Srivastava, who joined Prayagraj from Varanasi, has been appointed Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, City.
The administrative changes affect several key police branches of the commissionerate. Ganganagar is among the important police areas in the district, while separate responsibility has been assigned for monitoring crime and cyber crime. Traffic, Police Lines and UP-112 have also been placed under one officer. The official website of the Prayagraj district administration also records the structure of responsibilities for DCP Ganganagar, DCP City, DCP Yamunanagar, Traffic and UP-112, and crime-related police functions.
IPS officer Sonam Kumar is a 2016-batch officer. According to his official profile on the Uttar Pradesh Police website, his current rank is listed as SP, and he has been posted as DCP in the Prayagraj Police Commissionerate from September 19, 2026. Before this, he was serving as DCP in the Agra Police Commissionerate. Information about his transfer from Agra to Prayagraj was also reported as part of the major IPS reshuffle in the state on September 19.
With Sonam Kumar now assigned charge of the Ganganagar zone, his responsibilities will include law and order, crime control, policing and coordination among police officers at the local level in the area. According to local reports, he will also oversee cases related to cyber crime. The Ganganagar area comprises a mix of rural and rapidly developing urban areas, resulting in different policing requirements across the zone.
Kuldeep Singh Gunawat has been moved from DCP Ganganagar and appointed DCP Crime. According to the official Uttar Pradesh Police profile, Kuldeep Singh Gunawat is a 2017-batch IPS officer and served as DCP in the Prayagraj Commissionerate until September 2026. Official records show that his Prayagraj posting began on September 10, 2024.
As DCP Crime, Kuldeep Singh Gunawat will oversee crime-related cases. The monitoring of the Crime Branch and police action related to criminal cases will come under his responsibility. According to local reports, he has also been assigned responsibilities related to cyber crime. This means that monitoring and investigation of digitally committed offences, along with conventional criminal cases, will form part of his area of responsibility.
The Prayagraj Commissionerate also has a separate DCP-level structure for responsibilities related to crime and elections. The district administration's official website mentions the post of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime and Elections. Under the new arrangement, responsibilities have therefore been distributed at the DCP level for monitoring the crime branch and coordinating among various police units.
Manish Kumar Shandilya has also been assigned a new responsibility. He was handling the charge of DCP Crime and Cyber Crime and has now been appointed DCP Traffic. His responsibilities will also include Police Lines and UP-112. His new area of work will therefore cover traffic management, the emergency response system and administrative functions related to the Police Lines.
Traffic management remains a major responsibility for the police in a large city such as Prayagraj. Traffic pressure is present around major markets, railway stations, bus stands, religious sites, universities and other busy areas. During Kumbh and major religious events, the police role in traffic management also increases. As DCP Traffic, Manish Kumar Shandilya will oversee these arrangements.
The UP-112 responsibility has also been included in the same portfolio, bringing the emergency police response system under his charge. Police response following information about an incident, coordination between the concerned police stations and field units, and monitoring of the police response system form part of this arrangement. The official police structure of Prayagraj also lists a separate post for Traffic and UP-112.
As part of the reshuffle, IPS officer Shruti Srivastava has been given charge as Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, City. She recently joined Prayagraj after being transferred from Varanasi. According to local reports, she has also been assigned responsibilities related to Lines and Crime. The changes in the portfolios of the four officers have thus resulted in new responsibility assignments covering Ganganagar, Crime, Traffic and the City area of the commissionerate.
The changes come after a large-scale reshuffle of IPS officers in the Uttar Pradesh Police Department in September. On September 19, 35 IPS officers were transferred in the state. The transfers included officers associated with police commissionerates, districts and various police branches. In the same reshuffle, Sonam Kumar was transferred from Agra to Prayagraj as DCP.
In that wider reshuffle, DCP Neeraj Kumar Pandey was moved from Prayagraj and appointed SP at Police Headquarters, Prayagraj, while Sonam Kumar was given the responsibility of DCP in the Prayagraj Commissionerate. Information was also reported at the time that Shruti Srivastava was being sent to the Prayagraj Commissionerate as Additional Police Commissioner.
The Prayagraj police administration has undergone several changes previously as well. At the beginning of September, all four SOG teams of the commissionerate were disbanded, and 44 police personnel were removed from these teams and directed to report to the concerned DCPs. The latest change in the portfolios of IPS officers has now followed that decision. However, no official reason has been given to directly link the two decisions.
Under the new arrangement, separate officers have been assigned charge of important areas such as Ganganagar, Crime and Traffic. The commissionerate system provides for distinct responsibilities across these areas. The impact of the changes will be reflected in the functioning of the police, crime control, traffic management and disposal of complaints in the coming days.
According to the official structure of Prayagraj Police, area-wise responsibilities are assigned to DCP City, DCP Ganganagar, DCP Yamunanagar and other police officers. Separate posts have also been designated for Traffic and UP-112 and crime-related responsibilities. Following the new postings, coordination among the officers holding these positions will be relevant to the functioning of the commissionerate's policing system.
The key changes are that Sonam Kumar has been given charge of Ganganagar, Kuldeep Singh Gunawat has been assigned Crime, and Manish Kumar Shandilya has been given charge of Traffic. Shruti Srivastava has been assigned the responsibility of ADCP City. The changes in the officers' portfolios came to light on September 29, 2026, and the corresponding positions are also recorded in the official structure of the Prayagraj Commissionerate.
