Sakhare, Kashyap to head Kochi and T’puram commissionerates

T’puram: The government went for a major reshuffle of senior police officers on Thursday, including appointment of IG-ranked officers Vijay Sakhare and Dinendra Kashyap as commissioners in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram respectively.
The post of commissioners in the two cities are at present held by DIG rank officers. The upgradation is part of constituting metropolitan commissionerates in the cities. However, the government is yet to take a call on granting magisterial powers to the commissioners, a prerequisite for metropolitan commissionerates.
Along with this, the north and south zones will be headed by IG rank officers instead of ADGPs. The Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Thrissur and Kannur ranges will be headed by DIG rank officers –– Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar, S Surendran and K Sethuraman respectively –– instead of the current IG-rank officers. There will be an ADGP in charge of state law and order with Sheikh Darvesh Sahib in charge.
Excise commissioner Rishi Raj Singh will be the new DGP (prisons). The incumbent, R Sreelekha, will be DGP, traffic and social policing. ADGP (administration) S Aananthakrishnan will be the new excise commissioner, while incumbent ADGP (south zone) Manoj Abraham will be ADGP (administration). The charge of ADGP (armed police) will go to ADGP (coastal police) Tomin J Thachankary. ADGP K Padmakumar will be in charge of coastal police.
Once the commissioners get magisterial powers, they can implement Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act and also order preventive detention under the CrPC section 107. tnn