Cop Turned Coach

Once a maverick officer known across Kashmir for his ‘poet policing’ and controversial actions, Basant Rath now steps into classrooms, offering free coaching to civil service aspirants from J&K, Ladakh, and the Northeast.

- Faizaan Bashir

Life has come full circle for the man students call (Book Baba.

Once a top cop patrolling Srinagar’s crowded streets, remembered for his fines, confrontations, and sudden intensity, he is now preparing to face a classroom.

Next month in Noida, Rath will welcome his first batch of students to Rank 62 Academy, a coaching institute for IAS and IPS aspirants.

The academy's name carries his own mark of achievement: Rank 62 in the 2000 UPSC Civil Services Examination.

The former IPS officer of the J&K cadre has promised that aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the northeastern states will attend without paying a fee. Others will be charged Rs. 2.4 lakh for an eight-month program. Applicants must clear a walk-in interview and an essay test to be admitted.

For Rath, the initiative is rooted in his early police years in Poonch, where he trained under IGP P. L. Gupta. “My mentor inspired me to treat people as people, not numbers in files,” he recalled. “From my training days, I knew I must do something for students of J&K and Ladakh.”

The move is not his first outreach to students. During his tenure in Kashmir, Rath often gifted books and gadgets to underprivileged aspirants. His approach was blunt. To qualify, candidates had to write clear, well-reasoned emails. Sentimental appeals never worked. He wanted to instill a culture of merit and rigour among young Kashmiris who dreamed of competing in India’s most gruelling exam.

That bluntness defined his policing career as well.