The Union Public Service Commission is expected to empanel a list of at least three senior IPS officers this week, paving the way for the appointment of Tamil Nadu’s next Director-General of Police/Head of Police Force, who will hold office for a period of two years, starting July 1, 2019.
The incumbent DGP, T.K. Rajendran, who received a two-year extension of service, will retire by the end of this month.
Police sources said J.K. Tripathy (1985 batch) and M.S. Jaffar Sait (1986 batch) are among the frontrunners for the top post, while Sri Lakshmi Prasad, Ashutosh Shukla and Mithilesh Kumar Jha (now on Central deputation) may also find a place on the panel.
The senior-most of all, S.R. Jangid and C.K. Gandhi Rajan, both belonging to the 1985 batch, lost out on the opportunity to be considered for empanelment after the Supreme Court, in a recent order, clarified that only IPS officers with a minimum residual service of six months should be considered as candidates to head the force.
Mr. Tripathy is currently the DGP/Chairman of the Uniformed Service Recruitment Board and has held key positions, including the Commissioner of Police, Chennai and the Additional Director-General of Police (Law & Order). It was during his tenure as the Commissioner of Police in 2012 that the Chennai city police cracked sensational bank robbery cases and shot dead five suspects belonging to a North Indian gang.
Mr. Jaffar Sait, now heading the Crime Branch-CID, served as the chief of Intelligence in the Special Branch-CID for a few years during the 2006-2011 regime of the DMK. Soon after the AIADMK came to power in 2011, he was posted as ADGP/Special Officer, Mandapam refugee camp, in Ramanathapuram district, regarded as a punishment posting.
The State government subsequently posted Mr. Sait as Chennai ADGP, Tamil Nadu Police Academy before making him the chief of the CB-CID in the rank of DGP. He directly supervised the investigation into the sensational Pollachi sexual abuse case, in which crucial technical evidence was retrieved, resulting in the arrests of five suspects.
A case of alleged misconduct in the allotment of a housing board plot filed against Mr. Sait, which led to his suspension [later reinstated], was recently set aside by the court, thereby clearing the decks for the inclusion of his name in the list of DGPs sent to the UPSC for empanelment.
In a recent shuffle, the State government effected some transfers of IPS officers, which raised eyebrows. Mr. Jangid and Mr. Shukla, both recipients of the Police Medal for Gallantry, were shifted to posts considered insignificant in the force.
While Mr. Jangid, who flagged the issue of non-IPS officers occupying cadre posts (meant for IPS officers) in violation of All India Services rules, was shifted from one ex-cadre post to another as Chief Vigilance Officer, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam, Mr. Shukla, who, as DGP (Election), wrote to the Election Commission seeking the transfer of some IPS officers to ensure free and fair polls, was posted to the Mandapam refugee camp soon after the Model Code of Conduct was lifted.
Mr. Rajendran, whose tenure ends this month, is likely to be considered for the post of Chief Information Commissioner in the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, which is currently vacant, police sources said.