Wanchoo belongs to the 1976 batch of the
Indian Police Service from the
West Bengal cadre. He was posted in the
Intelligence Bureau when he was asked to join the
Special Protection Group set up in 1985 after the assassination of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi. He has served in various positions in the Special Protection Group since then, and is considered to be close to the Gandhi family. He was transferred out in November 1997 but brought back to the
SPG in February 1998 at Sonia Gandhi's request. Wanchoo alternated between postings in the
IB and the
SPG, serving these two organisations for 13 and 18 years respectively. Wanchoo was appointed Director of the
SPG in 2004 for an initial two-year term but continued in that post for seven years till his retirement on 31 October 2011. ==Governor of Goa==