Bedi wants to hang up police uniform

New Delhi: Kiran Bedi, a much-decorated police officer and the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, has shot off a letter to the home ministry seeking voluntary retirement, citing "personal reasons".

"I have written to the home ministry for voluntary retirement for personal reasons and I have no idea if it has been accepted. At present I am serving a mandatory notice period of 90 days," Bedi said.

"Earlier I was pursuing social and academic works along with my duty. Now I can focus only on my personal interests... I will complete my book on leadership," she said, adding that she would continue working against social evils such as child labour, drug abuse and dowry.

Asked if she quit because she was superseded for the post of Delhi Police Commissioner in July this year, Bedi said: "It was a thing of past and life moves on."

Bedi said she would not join politics but would continue working in the public domain.

Criticism

Bedi was keen to take charge of the Delhi Police force she has served in various capacities. But the government appointed Y.S. Dadwal as the commissioner of Delhi Police, though he is two years her junior.

Bedi had then criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for ignoring her experience and seniority.

One of India's most recognised faces, Bedi has a larger-than-life image in a country where police are mostly perceived as inefficient or corrupt or both.

An Asian and national tennis champion, Bedi is a Magasaysay award winner and has worked in traffic and narcotics control and prison management. She was also an adviser to the UN's peacekeeping operations.

She shot to fame in the early 1980s when she was responsible for the unthinkable act of having the then prime minister Indira Gandhi's car towed away for illegal parking while Gandhi was out of the country.