For the first time in its history, the CRPF’s specialised jungle warfare unit, CoBRA, has a woman at its helm. IPS officer Sanjukta Parashar, widely known across the country as the “Iron Lady of Assam,” has taken charge as Inspector General of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action a force built specifically to fight India’s toughest counter-insurgency battles in dense forests and difficult terrain.
Her appointment isn’t just a career milestone. It marks the coming together of a force built for guerrilla warfare and an officer whose entire professional identity was forged in exactly that kind of combat.
Who is Sanjukta Parashar?
Parashar is a 2006-batch IPS officer belonging to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. She joined the CRPF earlier this month and was handed charge of CoBRA just last week, stepping into a role that has traditionally been held by male officers.
Before this posting, she headed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police. Over the course of her career, she has also worked with the National Investigation Agency (NIA), where she was involved in counter-terrorism investigations, experience that adds another layer to her already formidable operational résumé.
On the academic side, Parashar studied political science at Indraprastha College, University of Delhi, before going on to pursue a PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) — a background that blends scholarly grounding with decades of hands-on fieldwork.
How did she earn the ‘Iron Lady’ title?
The nickname isn’t a media invention — it comes from real, high-stakes fieldwork. During her tenure as Superintendent of Police in Sonitpur (2013-14), Parashar led operations against the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), one of the most active insurgent groups in the Northeast at the time.
Her early postings placed her directly in Assam’s insurgency-hit belts, regions marked by dense forests, armed militants, and constantly shifting ground realities. Rather than operating from behind a desk, she took an active, hands-on role in field operations, often in conditions that tested both physical endurance and command judgment.
That period of her career shaped the image that has stayed with her ever since — an officer known for confronting difficult situations directly rather than stepping back from them. It’s this reputation, built over years in the field, that eventually gave her the title she’s now known by nationwide.
Why does her appointment to CoBRA matter?
CoBRA was created for one specific purpose: to fight guerrilla and jungle warfare. Its commandos are trained for long-distance foot operations through dense forests, ambush and counter-ambush tactics, handling IED threats, and carrying out precision, intelligence-led operations against armed insurgents.
The force has been central to India’s anti-Naxal operations, conducting missions across the difficult terrains of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra. Two of its battalions are currently deployed in Manipur, where ethnic tensions continue to trigger intermittent violence.
Handing charge of such a unit to an officer whose own career began with hands-on counter-insurgency work in Assam’s forests isn’t a coincidence — it’s a direct match between operational background and operational mandate. Her appointment as IG had first come to light in August 2026, and her formal charge of CoBRA follows that development.
What does this mean for women in security forces?
Parashar’s rise to this post fits into a larger, visible shift within the CRPF. Women Inspector Generals now also head formations responsible for Jammu, the Rapid Action Force (RAF), the Northeast, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh a marked change from a force structure that, for decades, saw very few women in senior operational commands.
Her appointment to CoBRA, in particular, sends a clear signal: leadership in India’s most demanding combat forces is no longer defined by gender, but by capability, field experience, and proven performance under pressure all of which Parashar has demonstrated over a two-decade career that took her from the forests of Assam to one of the country’s most specialised counter-insurgency commands.
