Aparna Kumar becomes first woman IPS officer to conquer the South Pole

New Delhi: Aparna Kumar has become the first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) and ITBP officer to successfully conquer the South Pole, the southernmost point on the globe situated in Antarctica. Aparna is a 2002-batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

On Tuesday, she met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. She talked about the hardships she faced in her six-year career of professional mountaineering.

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While lauding the officer, Rajnath said: "It is indeed a big achievement for the ITBP as well as for the country that the first woman IPS officer and a DIG of ITBP reached South Pole."

In a media interaction, she said “The trek to the South Pole was very challenging, tough and amidst very, very cold climate. With this success, I have scaled prominent peaks in six continents and I’m looking forward to the seventh, which is Mt Dinali in North America, this year.”

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The officer, who joined the mountain warfare trained border guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police last year on deputation, had her first brush with mountaineering when she was commanding a Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) battalion in Uttar Pradesh few years back.

The ITBP is primarily tasked with guarding the 3,488-km icy and high altitude Indian border with China. After this expedition, Aparna is planning to step her foot on the north pole and achieve the glory of reaching both the ends of the globe.

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