A total of 151 officer trainees, including 37 women, will participate in the Dikshant Parade of the 78th batch of regular recruits at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad on Saturday (October 17, 2026).
Sujeet Pandey, Director of SVPNPA, said that the batch comprises 135 Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers and 16 foreign officers from Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan will review the parade as the chief guest.
Among the trainees, two officers were allotted the Telangana cadre and eight the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Harsh Dabaria, a native of Rajasthan, and N. Chetana Reddy, from Telangana, were allotted the Telangana cadre.
The Andhra Pradesh cadre officers are Chakka Snehith, Challa Pavan Kalyan, Ganesna Bhanusri Lakshmi Annapurna Pratyusha, Mukund Singh Chahar, Nikhil Yadav, Shah Mohd Imran Mohd Irfan, Urmi Sinha and Veer Rishikesh Nagnath.
Four other officers from Telangana were allotted cadres outside their home state. K. Arpitha will serve in Uttar Pradesh, Chowhan Rajkumar in Rajasthan, and Merugu Kaushik and Penkeesu Dheeraj Reddy in Maharashtra. Potupureddi Bhargav, from Andhra Pradesh, was allotted the Tamil Nadu cadre.
What was taught during training?
The trainees joined the Hyderabad academy on December 8, 2025, after completing a 15-week foundation course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.
The SVPNPA Director said that their 45-week training at the academy was focused on conventional policing alongside emerging challenges, including cybercrime, cryptocurrency-related fraud, financial crimes, drug trafficking, the darknet, artificial intelligence and threats posed by drones.
The curriculum also covers the implementation of the three new criminal laws, investigation, forensics, internal security, public order, information technology, criminology, police management, ethics and human rights.
Practical instruction includes investigation and riot-control simulations, mock court proceedings, case studies and exercises involving investigative tools.
Outdoor training encompasses weapons handling, firing, unarmed combat, fieldcraft, tactical operations, map reading, physical fitness, yoga and equitation.
The final examinations in indoor and outdoor subjects were completed, while qualifying examinations in cadre languages, Hindi, driving, swimming, first aid and other subjects will be conducted during the second phase.
Field exposure and specialised attachments
As part of their training, probationers visited police stations to understand the functioning of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and other operational procedures.
Director of NPA added that they also visited orphanages and shelters for trafficking victims as part of sensitisation exercises, besides studying security arrangements during Ganesh idol immersion processions, cricket matches and Assembly elections in Assam and Kerala.
“Specialised attachments included jungle survival training at Greyhounds in Telangana, rock climbing with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and advanced weapons training at the Border Security Force’s Central School of Weapons and Tactics,” said the officer.
The programme also includes exposure to Army operations in the northern and eastern sectors and CRPF operations in areas affected by Left-Wing Extremism.
District training to follow
Following the parade, the trainees will proceed to Delhi for four weeks of attachments with central police organisations, armed police forces and other institutions, completing the 49-week first phase.
They will subsequently undergo 29 weeks of district practical training in their allotted cadres before returning to the academy on June 21, 2027, for the nine-week second phase.
The final phase will include specialised attachments with the National Forensic Sciences University and a leadership module at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.