New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): IPS officer Sanjay Arora on Tuesday took over as Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) following the retirement of incumbent S.S. Deswal.

Deswal handed over the baton to Arora at the force headquarter. Arora will be the 31st chief of the elite force, which was raised in 1962 and primarily deployed to guard the India-China border in the Himalayas.

Deswal, an IPS officer of Haryana cadre, was appointed as ITBP chief on October 31, 2018. He was also Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal.

Prior to his appointment, Arora, who is of the Tamil Nadu cadre's 1988 batch, was Special DG in the Central Reserve Police Force.

He has done a stint in the ITBP from 1997 to 2002, commanding a battalion in Matli in Uttarakhand from 1997 to 2000. Subsequently, he made notable contributions in the force's training, serving as Commandant (Training) at the ITBP Academy, Mussoorie, from 2000 to 2002.

Prior to his central deputation in the CRPF, he served his home cadre in various capacities including Additional Director General Police, Administration), Commissioner of Police of Coimbatore, and other positions.

Presently, the ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh, covering 3,488 km of the India-China border in a hostile environment. It mans posts at altitudes as high as 21,000 feet (6,400 m) across the border.