During service, Amitabh was known for his strict adherence to rules and regulations as well as for his work in the field of administrative accountability.

[7][8] He also has a Fellow Program in Management (FPM) Degree from IIM Lucknow, equivalent to Doctor of Philosophy (P Hd), which he got in year 2015 for his thesis work on UP Police.

He worked as Superintendent of Police (SP) in around 10 districts of UP including Pithoragarh, Lalitpur, Deoria, Gonda, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Firozabad, Ballia and Maharajganj.

He also worked in multiple departments including Intelligence, Vigilance, Anti-Corruption and Police Training Academy.

He also worked for people friendly policing, giving highest importance to grievance redressal of the poor and the downtrodden.

Amitabh was selected for the four-year Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) at IIM Lucknow through the prestigious Common Admission Test (CAT).

Later he won his study leave case from the Central Administrative Tribunal and Allahabad High Court.

[16] In January 2015, a woman filed a rape case against Amitabh Thakur, while he was posted as IG (Civil Defence).

[18] On 11 July 2015, Amitabh presented a complaint before Hazratganj police station for registration of FIR against Mulayam Singh as regards the alleged phone threat.

[16] Two days later, on 13 July, the state government suspended Thakur, accusing him of "indiscipline, holding anti-government views, dereliction of duty and violating service rules".

In the rape case, the Police not only exonerated Thakur, it also charged the complainant of registering a false FIR.

Similarly, in the Disproportionate assets case, the investigating agency concluded that the charges were incorrect and Thakur had property much lesser than his known sources of income.

[25][26][27][28] Amitabh Thakur also had direct altercations during the rule of Bhartiya Janata Party Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

In 2007 Yogi Adityanath was arrested on serious charges related with hate speech and disturbance of law and order.

Hindu Yuva Vahini of Yogi Adityanath was generally believed to be the force behind these law and order disturbances.

All through his career as a Police officer, Amitabh Thakur remained a pro-poor, activism oriented person, which often resulted in his direct confrontations with various Governments.

He was the founder of the National RTI Forum, a grassroots anti-corruption organisation in India that advocates for government openness under the terms of the 2005 Right to Information Act.

He had also formed Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a human rights organisation.

[44] Amitabh Thakur and his wife Nutan have filed over 500 RTI applications and 150 Public Interest Litigations (PILs).

Thakur has authored a story book in Hindi, Dhal Gayi Raat, and has compiled two collections of poems Jaisa Maine Jana Hai and Aatmadarsh.

[7] His book Fresh Brew – Chronicles of Business and Freedom, co-authored with Amit Haralalka, traces the careers of 25 IIM Lucknow alumni who turned entrepreneurs.

After its formation, Azad Adhikar Sena has been expanding and working in various areas of India, with particular focus on Uttar Pradesh.