Sanjay Arora, a senior IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, took charge as the commissioner of Delhi Police on Monday, officials said. Arora was accorded the ceremonial guard of honor by the police force upon his arrival at the Delhi Police Headquarters at Jai Singh Marg here.

?The 57-year-old officer, who headed the paramilitary force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), was once part of the Tamil Nadu Police's special task force which later hunted down forest brigand Veerappan.?He will succeed Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, who retired on Sunday after nearly 38 years in service.

Arora is the second successive non-AGMUT cadre IPS officer to head the Delhi Police and the third since the Delhi Police Act was passed in 1978 and a commissionerate was established.

?Before Arora and Asthana, Ajai Raj Sharma, a 1966-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed as the Delhi Police chief in 1999 when L K Advani was the Union Home Minister.

The Delhi Police functions under the Union Home Ministry and its officers belong to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.?