Manoj Kumar Mishra in Bokaro on Tuesday. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Aug. 30: Inspector-general of North Chotanagpur Manoj Kumar Mishra has called it a day after serving 33 years in the department.

Speaking to The Telegraph on his last day in office today, Mishra said he was happy with all that he achieved in his long career, but his only grouse was that he could have done more to challenge existing norms that only exist due to political pressure.

Mishra, who took over as IG of North Chotanagpur on July 30, 2010, achieved much in his short tenure in the region. Not only did he manage to demoralise the Maoists and keep them in check, he also cracked down on economic offenders in the steel hub.

It was on his initiative that 14sqkm of encroachments on land needed by Bokaro steel for its expansion was removed and he also contained coal smuggling in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Koderma and Giridih to a large extent.

“To be honest, urban policing was not at its best in my zone. More is needed to be done to stop vehicle robberies, chain snatching and robberies,” Mishra, whose official farewell is slated tomorrow evening, said.

Asked to speak about the highs and lows of his career, Mishra said he enjoyed working as DSP at Supaul and Samastipur. The worst he faced was as SP of Chaibasa in 2002, when Naxalites killed a number of policemen in Saranda.

“My work as DIG of Kolhan was also appreciated and I have not disappointed as IG.”

For a man who wanted to dabble in academics, policing was a strange feeling. “When I joined as DSP, I felt like an alien. I felt like a fish out of water. I wanted to be a professor or scholar in international studies, and in the early stages of my career I really hated the work, but slowly everything fell into place,” he recalled.

Asked how he rated himself, Mishra said he was a devoted father and a good officer too. Despite his hectic schedule, Mishra tutored his three daughters, two of whom are software engineers, while the third is in school.