Anil Kant was on Wednesday appointed as the new state police chief of Kerala as Loknath Behera retired from service.
A 1988-batch IPS officer, Kant is a native of Delhi. He is said to be the first state police chief from a Dalit community in Kerala.
Though 1987-batch officer Sudesh Kumar was the senior-most among the three cleared by the UPSC's committee for considering to the Kerala police chief post, it seems that the involvement of Kumar's daughter in assaulting a police personnel made him unfit for the post for the left-front government.
Kumar's daughter allegedly assaulted a police driver in 2018 following a verbal duel over delay in bringing vehicle to collect the IPS officer's wife and daughter after a morning walk in Thiruvananthapuram. A police case in this regard was still pending and police associations had reportedly conveyed resentment over considering Kumar to the police chief post. Kumar is now serving as Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau director.
It was widely speculated that B Sandhya, who was among the three cleared by the UPSC, may be considered as police chief and she would become the first woman IPS officer to head the state police. She is the second woman IPS officer in Kerala.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks