Anjana Krishna IPS officer who stood her ground against Ajit Pawar

When Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar dialed a young police officer in Solapur last week, ordering her to halt action against alleged illegal mining, the response he got was unexpected. The officer on the other end, 27-year-old IPS probationer Anjana Krishna V S, did not flinch. She asked for proof that the caller was indeed the Deputy CM.

The exchange, caught on video and widely circulated, has since made Anjana a symbol of composure and courage in the face of political pressure.

Hailing from Vilavoorkal village panchayat in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, Anjana is no stranger to mining disputes. Her home lies barely a kilometre from Mukkunnimala, a hill ravaged for decades by illegal granite quarrying. “She grew up witnessing this,” says her father, V R Viju, a small-time contractor.

Anjana is the first IPS officer from her panchayat and the first civil service achiever among children of Thiruvananthapuram’s district court employees. Her mother, Seena, is a court clerk; her younger brother, Arjun, is a medical student. “She is bold, honest, and straightforward — but never one to trouble anyone,” her father says.

Despite three failed attempts at the UPSC, Anjana remained unshaken. On her fourth try in 2022, she secured All-India Rank 355 and claimed IPS as her first choice. In between, she even cleared the Railway Recruitment Board exam but chose to wait for her civil services results.

Her father recalls: “Most would lose heart after three failures. But Anjana was always confident she would make it.”

A graduate in mathematics from NSS College, Neeramankara, she later enrolled in a criminology post-graduate programme through IGNOU. Along the way, she also interned at a Malayalam daily to sharpen her skills.

Now posted as Sub-Divisional Police Officer at Karnala in Solapur, she is set to turn 28 this December. For her family, the storm around Ajit Pawar’s phone call has only strengthened their pride. “She has remained cool and happy,” her father says. “Everyone here speaks proudly of my daughter.”

Anjana Krishna’s story is not just about a viral moment of defiance. It is about persistence against odds, quiet conviction, and an officer determined to live up to her uniform.