Born in 1961 in Kolkata, Mitra was educated at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata, Presidency College, Kolkata and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, completing his BA, MA and M.Phil. A graduate of History, he qualified for the Civil Services and was allotted the Indian Police Service, belonging to the 1988-batch in the West Bengal cadre.
Additional Director General of Police and Inspector General of Police, Training
Beginning his career in Darjeeling in 1989, he has held a vast number of posts as mentioned before: consecutive superintendents of police, experience in the C.I.D, head of the Detective Department and extensive work as a senior officer in Kolkata Police. Mitra took over as Commissioner of Police, Kolkata on 13 April 2016 and held the afore-mentioned office till 21 May 2016.
Transfer to the Post of Police Commissioner
Around the end of January 2016 in a major police reshuffle Rajeev Kumar, the ADG was made the Commissioner of Police to succeed Surajit Kar Purakayastha. As result Mitra being a batch senior to Kumar, was transferred to CID as its ADG. However because of various reasons he was removed by the Election Commission of India on 12 April 2016 and replaced with Soumen Mitra, who took charge on 13 April 2016.
Transfer out from the Post of Police Commissioner
On 21 May, just two days after the Trinamool Congress came back to power with a majority of 211 seats, Mitra was removed by Nabanna to the post of ADG & IGP Training, and his predecessor Rajeev Kumar was brought back to the post.
Widespread Recognition
After being brought in as the Commissioner of Police by the Election Commission, Mitra received widespread fame and recognition as "an able person who worked free of all political and other influences as a fair officer". Under his leadership, the two phases of elections held in Kolkata were conducted without any trouble or violence. Appearing very frequently on the front-pages of newspapers and in magazines, he soon became an "icon of honesty and integrity and a hero for everyone to look up to.
Other interests
Mitra takes keen interest in social welfare issues, heritage and wildlife conservation. He is very popular among the police force for his professionalism, modern outlook and welfare schemes. He has taken initiatives in many places around West Bengal for rehabilitation of heritage buildings and heritage protection and recognition. He masterminded the recovery of 112 Ripon Street, Kolkata, Police Training School, Kolkata and many police stations and traffic guards throughout the city. He has also worked with and been closely associated with numerous international organizations including the World Health Organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Besides this, he has a keen interest in sports, both writing about it as well as being a sportsman himself. He was part of his school and college cricket and football teams, leading Presidency College as its captain in cricket. He is also a school and college chess champion
Literary works
Mitra's M Phil dissertation has been published as a book entitled In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta, 1880–1950.
