Latest news with #DGPs
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Tamil Nadu prepares panel to appoint the next Director-General of Police
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to send a list of eligible officers of the rank of Director-General of Police to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for shortlisting a panel to appoint the next DGP/Head of Police Force. Initiating the process in compliance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case relating to the appointment of DGPs, the Home Department has sought the willingness of the officers to head the force. Revised guidelines The tenure of the incumbent, Shankar Jiwal, comes to an end on August 31. The selection of officers will also be in tune with the revised guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to the new rule, only officers of the rank of DGP in the Level-16 pay matrix will be eligible. Earlier, all IPS officers who had completed 30 years of service were entitled to be included in the list. The UPSC empanelment committee — headed by its chairperson and comprising the Union Home Secretary, the Chief Secretary, the DGP of the State concerned, and an officer from among the Heads of Central Police Organisations/Central paramilitary forces — would shortlist three officers and send their names to Tamil Nadu for immediate appointment of one of them as the DGP/Head of Police Force. Order of seniority In the order of seniority, DGPs Seema Agrawal, Rajeev Kumar, and Sandeep Rai Rathore top the list of 8 officers. All the three officers have had a stint in the Central government on deputation. DGPs Pramod Kumar and Abhay Kumar Singh may not be considered as they have less than six months of service left. The list of eligible officers, which should have been sent three months before the vacancy was to come up (August 30, 2025), was expected to be dispatched this week, sources in the police headquarters said. Facing criticism The appointment of the new DGP assumes significance as Tamil Nadu heads to the Assembly election early next year. The Police Department is also facing severe criticism from various quarters for several instances of alleged custodial death or torture. The latest was the custodial death of B. Ajith Kumar in Sivaganga district. This case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. One of the criteria set by the Ministry of Home Affairs in its revised guidelines is that an officer, being considered for the top post, should be have served 10 years in Law and Order, the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department, the Crime Against Women Cell, the Economic Offences Wing, the Cyber Crimes Cell, the Government Railway Police, Anti-Corruption/Vigilance, Intelligence/Special Branch, the Counter/Anti-Terror Unit, Security, and in Central agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the National Investigation Agency, on deputation.
The Hindu
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ravada A. Chandrasekhar is new Kerala State Police Chief
The Kerala Cabinet, which met virtually on Monday (June 30, 2025) under the chairmanship of Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan, decided to appoint Director General of Police (DGP) Ravada A. Chandrasekhar as the new State Police Chief (SPC). The decision ends weeks of speculation over the successor to incumbent SPC Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retires today (June 30). #Kerala#DGP Sheikh Darvesh Sahib during his farewell parade at SAP ground in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday 📸 @ — The Hindu - Kerala (@THKerala) June 30, 2025 A 1991-batch officer of the Kerala cadre, Mr. Chandrasekhar currently serves as the Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau. He has been asked to return to Kerala from New Delhi to assume charge at the earliest. In the interim, sources indicate that a senior officer may temporarily head the force until his arrival. Key posts Mr. Chandrasekhar, a native of West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, began his career in Kerala as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Thalassery. Over the years, he has held key posts, including Deputy Inspector General of Thrissur and Kochi Ranges, and the Commissioner of Police, Thiruvananthapuram City. He also served a stint with the United Nations on deputation, before his repatriation to the post of Inspector General, State Crime Records Bureau. Koothuparamba incident The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) apparently chose to disregard the potential fallout of appointing Mr. Chandrasekhar, whose involvement in the Koothuparamba firing incident of November 25, 1994, as the then ASP, had made him an adversary of CPI(M) workers. Despite being implicated in the case, the officer and others had been acquitted by the Kerala High Court in 2012. Five Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers were killed, and six others were injured after the police opened fire on a protest against the then United Democratic Front (UDF) government's educational policy. Mr. Chandrasekhar, who was second in the shortlist recommended by the Union Public Service Commission, pipped DGPs Nitin Agrawal and Yogesh Gupta to the top post. The State government also reportedly considered DGP Manoj Abraham and Additional DGP M.R. Ajith Kumar, who faced criticism over the Thrissur Pooram fiasco, for the role.
