Kochi: Kerala government has appointed Ravada A Chandrasekhar as the 41st police chief of the state in place of Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who is retiring on June 30.
A 1991-batch IPS officer currently, Chandrasekhar is on central deputation.
Nitin Agrawal and Yogesh Gupta were other contenders.
Hailung from Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari region, began as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Thalassery.
He served as Superintendent of Police in Wayanad, Malappuram, Ernakulam Rural, and Palakkad districts.
He also held positions like Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Thrissur and Kochi ranges, Commissioner of Police in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2008 he went on central deputation.
The CPM heading the state government was against Chandrasekhar who ordered police firing to disperse DYFI activists protesting against Minister M V Raghavan of Congress-led government in Koothuparamba on November 25, 1994.
The firing led to the deaths of five DYFI workers.
Even as Chandrasekhar and others were accused of murder charges, the Kerala High Court acquitted in 2012.
Chandrasekhar will be the Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat, from August 1, in place of Harinath Mishra.
Chandrasekhar will retire in 2026.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) shortlisted three officers Nitin Agrawal, Ravada A Chandrasekhar, and Yogesh Gupta ignoring Kerala government’s list of DGP Manoj Abraham and ADGPs Suresh Raj Purohit and M R Ajith Kumar.
Only those holding the rank of DGP with at least 30 years of service are considered for the post.
Nitin Agarwal is currently the State Road Safety Commissioner while Yogesh Gupta is not in the good books of the state government.
The final appointment order from the state government is awaited.
Rawada New Kerala DGP
