<p>Thiruvananthapuram: The decision of the CPM government in Kerala to appoint 1991 batch IPS officer Ravada A Chandrasekhar as the new state police chief raised many eye brows.</p><p>The CPM had earlier launched a campaign against him over the Koothuparamba police firing in Kannur in 1994 that had claimed the lives of five workers of CPM's youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India.</p><p>Chandrasekhar, who has been serving as Intelligence Bureau special director on deputation, was selected from among a panel of three senior officers on the Director General of Police rank. A special cabinet meeting on Monday took the decision as incumbent state police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb is retiring from service.</p>.Five held after vehicle enters Kerala CM's convoy, released on bail.<p>Chandrasekhar was serving as assistant superintendent of police at Thalassery in Kannur when the Koothuparamba police firing took place. The police opened fire to disburse DYFI activists who tried to waylay dissident CPM leader and then minister in the Congress government M V Raghavan for the changes in education policy. While five DYFI activists were killed, six others suffered injuries. DYFI activist Pushpan, who was paralysed following the injury, was a living martyr of the incident till his death in 2024.</p><p>The CPM had carried out a strong campaign against Chandrasekhar and others involved in the firing. Though murder case was initiated against them, the Kerala High Court exonerated them in 2012.</p><p>Following the cabinet decision to appoint Chandrasekhar as the state police chief, CPM senior leader P Jayarajan recalled the "strong stand" that the CPM took against Chandrasekhar following the Koothuparamba firing. The social media is also buzz with images of Pushpan.</p>.Kerala govt's tussle with governor: Row erupts over use of Bharat Mata portrait at Raj Bhavan.<p>Apart from Chandrasekhar, the others in the panel were 1989 batch IPS officer former BSF director general Nithin Agarwal, who is now serving as Kerala Road Safety Authority commissioner, and director general of fire and rescue services in Kerala Yogesh Gupta, a 1993 batch officer. </p><p>Agarwal, who was the senior-most among the three, also faced allegations of manhandling CPM workers. Gupta, who was junior to Chandrasekhar, was learnt to have become a persona non grata to the CPM as he decided to register a vigilance case against a CPM leader from Kannur P P Divya while serving as vigilance director till recently.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: The decision of the CPM government in Kerala to appoint 1991 batch IPS officer Ravada A Chandrasekhar as the new state police chief raised many eye brows.</p><p>The CPM had earlier launched a campaign against him over the Koothuparamba police firing in Kannur in 1994 that had claimed the lives of five workers of CPM's youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India.</p><p>Chandrasekhar, who has been serving as Intelligence Bureau special director on deputation, was selected from among a panel of three senior officers on the Director General of Police rank. A special cabinet meeting on Monday took the decision as incumbent state police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb is retiring from service.</p>.Five held after vehicle enters Kerala CM's convoy, released on bail.<p>Chandrasekhar was serving as assistant superintendent of police at Thalassery in Kannur when the Koothuparamba police firing took place. The police opened fire to disburse DYFI activists who tried to waylay dissident CPM leader and then minister in the Congress government M V Raghavan for the changes in education policy. While five DYFI activists were killed, six others suffered injuries. DYFI activist Pushpan, who was paralysed following the injury, was a living martyr of the incident till his death in 2024.</p><p>The CPM had carried out a strong campaign against Chandrasekhar and others involved in the firing. Though murder case was initiated against them, the Kerala High Court exonerated them in 2012.</p><p>Following the cabinet decision to appoint Chandrasekhar as the state police chief, CPM senior leader P Jayarajan recalled the "strong stand" that the CPM took against Chandrasekhar following the Koothuparamba firing. The social media is also buzz with images of Pushpan.</p>.Kerala govt's tussle with governor: Row erupts over use of Bharat Mata portrait at Raj Bhavan.<p>Apart from Chandrasekhar, the others in the panel were 1989 batch IPS officer former BSF director general Nithin Agarwal, who is now serving as Kerala Road Safety Authority commissioner, and director general of fire and rescue services in Kerala Yogesh Gupta, a 1993 batch officer. </p><p>Agarwal, who was the senior-most among the three, also faced allegations of manhandling CPM workers. Gupta, who was junior to Chandrasekhar, was learnt to have become a persona non grata to the CPM as he decided to register a vigilance case against a CPM leader from Kannur P P Divya while serving as vigilance director till recently.</p>