Karnataka: Who’ll be next DG-IGP? Top cops enter race
With Karnataka police chief Neelamani Raju’s tenure ending on January 31, DG-IGP post aspirants are desperately trying to get in touch with the chief minister to bag the coveted post. CID DGP Praveen Sood and DGP Internal Security AM Prasad are the frontrunners.
FollowBengaluru: With the state police chief Neelamani Raju hanging up her boots on January 31, lobbying has intensified for the coveted post of Karnataka DG-IGP.
The Karnataka Cabinet expansion crisis has also undermined the selection of the new state police chief which had to take place by the end of this month.
DG-IGP post aspirants are desperately trying to get in touch with chief minister BS Yediyurappa who has returned from Davos trip. But neither the chief minister nor the home minister have had time among their busy schedules for DG-IGP selection negotiations. This has piqued the interest of the police department as to who will succeed the incumbent DG-IGP Neelamani Raju.
Sources in the home ministry said that CID DGP Praveen Sood and DGP Internal Security AM Prasad, both 1985-batch IPS officers, are the frontrunners for the post with PK Garg, DGP (Police Training) also pitching in.
Prasad, who has nine months of service, will retire in October this year whereas Sood still has 4 years of service. Thus, the names of these two are at the forefront of the post of DG-IGP. Garg is said to have stayed away from the race because he has little influence at the government level.
The prevailing norm is that IPS officers who have completed 30 years of service are chosen for the post. The state government recommends the name for the post to the central government.
The order of the Supreme Court is that the chosen IPS officers should have a tenure of at least three months before retirement too is considered.
Apart from these, names that are doing the rounds are ADGP (Prisons) NS Megharik, ADGP (Communications, Logistics and Modernisation) RP Sharma, ADGP (Railways) Alokmohan, ADGP (Recruitment) Sunil Kumar, ADGP (Law and Order) AK Pandey, ADGP (Computer Wing) Sanjay Sahay, ADGP (Traffic & Road Safety) PS Sandhu and ADGP (Forest Cell) P Ravindranath.
