[2][3] He has taken voluntary retirement on 22 September 2020, five months before completion of his service tenure (28 February 2021).

He earlier appeared for the UPSC exam in Sanskrit language and was allotted Indian Revenue Service - Income Tax after which he reappeared for UPSC and joined the Indian Police Service in 1987 and was allotted his home cadre (Bihar).

[citation needed] He served as superintendent of police in several major districts of Bihar.

In 2020, after quick approval of his VRS from Governor Phagu Chauhan, an exception was made in his case with the waiver of a mandatory three-month-long cooling-off period for government servants to join politics.

Pandey joined Janata Dal (United) on 27 September 2020 at party supreme and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence in Patna.