This IPS officer declared himself a woman, used to wear sindoor, bindi and bangles on duty, UP police used to tease him ’Radha is...', his name is…

A bizarre case of a Gujarat government official had made headlines when he claimed to be the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, known as ‘Kalki’. Even news of an IPS officer from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh is currently in the news for his strange antics, claiming to be the incarnation of Lord Kalki. However, this phenomenon isn’t new; back in 2005, an IPS officer became self-proclaimed ‘second Radha’ of Lord Krishna. That’s not all, he declared himself a woman, adopting feminine attire, dressing as a newlywed bride on duty. We are talking about former IPS officer DK Panda.

Panda, a 1971-batch IPS officer, was associated with the Uttar Pradesh police force. He sparked controversy when he had started claiming he had spiritual visions. Belonging to Odisha, Panda chose to become an ardent follower of Lord Krishna, claiming the deity came in his dreams to tell him that he is not Panda, but the incarnation of his beloved Radha, ‘Doosri Radha’. He claimed that he kept his transformation into a woman under wraps from 1991 to 2005. But later in 2005, he began to dress up as a woman wearing make-up, jewellery and traditional costumes at work. He even applied vermilion and mehendi to both his hands. He also began wearing yellow-colour salwar kameez off duty. 

With each passing day, his devotion to Lord Krishna began growing, and he even ditched his uniform and started wearing all his ornaments and jewellery on duty. Upon seeing him, the UP Police would tease him, saying, “Radha is coming." Sooner, UP Police as well as the government began pointing at DK Panda’s attire, disapproving of his unconventional behaviour. The authorities issued several warnings; however, Panda did not mend his ways. As a result,  the higher authorities forced him to retire voluntarily. While he was supposed to retire in 2007, he had to take a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in 2005. 

In 2024, Panda was in the news for his claims that criminals defrauded him of Rs 381 crores. Reportedly, he lodged a complaint that was registered at the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj, UP. He said the alleged fraud of his money must be related to ‘terror funding’. He had requested that the investigation be carried out by the CBI. He claimed that he was contacted by a person named Arav Sharma from Cyprus, after which he was connected to a WhatsApp group operated by an alleged ‘Finnix Group’ from London. He allegedly made substantial profits through online trading, but the Group denied to pay back his profits and investments.