Ravada was a bittersweet option for Kerala government as new DGP
In 2021, the selection boiled down to Anil Kant or B Sandhya, while in 2023 it was Shaik Darvesh vs K Padmakumar. There were frenetic lobbying and umpteen last-minute patch-up meets to shore up the claims of the candidates. The government was hard-pressed due to its options.
This time, though, the situation was reversed. The government was in a quandary as the three names expected in the UPSC shortlist — Nitin Agarwal, Ravada and Yogesh Gupta — appealed to it the least.
Nitin, the government assessed, was not popular with fellow officers. It had questions about Yogesh after he allegedly transferred files on K M Abraham, chief principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to a central agency without consulting the state government.
With Ravada, the CPM-led government had an axe to grind. He was indicted in the 1994 Koothuparamba firing incident, a rallying point of left youth activism, in which five DYFI members were killed.
At the time Ravada was an ASP, fresh out of training from the SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad. The officer was suspended in connection with the incident, but was later redrafted.
However, the High Court quashed the case against cops, including Ravada, after the government did not issue sanction for prosecution.
Sources within the police and the government say Ravada was chosen out of compulsion. 'Ravada is undoubtedly a good candidate. He is soft-spoken and can take the entire pack along with him. But he carries the stigma of being involved in the Koothuparamba case. But the government chose to overlook it as it was not at all comfortable with the other two names. So, the moment UPSC sent back the shortlist, it was almost decided who the next police chief would be,' a highly placed source said.
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