Mumbai: Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, who was the first woman director general of police (DGP) in India, passed away on Monday night (August 26) in Mumbai. She was among the 1973 batch and made history when she was appointed as the DGP of Uttarakhand in 2004.  Later, she was promoted to as the first woman inspector general (IG) of Uttar Pradesh Police. She retired as the DGP on October 31, 2007. 

She was awarded the President's Medal for her long and meritorious service in 1989 and the Rajiv Gandhi Award in 2004 for excellent all round performance and as an outstanding woman achiever.

Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya also contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha election after her retirement on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket from Haridwar constituency. But, she could not make it to the lower house of Parliament. 

Uttarakhand Police expressed condolences and remembered her through a tweet. "Uttarakhand Police expresses condolences on her demise and remembers her phenomenal contribution," it said.

Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a Twitter post remembered Kanchan Bhattacharya, “Saddened to know about the passing away of the country's first woman DGP Ms Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya. She remained active in public life after her retirement and wanted to serve the country until her very last. Will miss her. RIP (sic)”