From capturing Govindachamy to cracking high-profile cases; Nidhin Raj to take charge in Kasaragod

Kanhangad: Ravaneswaram, a village known for its history of farmers' movements and paddy procurement struggles, has another reason to celebrate. Native son P Nidhin Raj is set to take charge as Kasaragod district's new Police Chief next week.

News of his appointment quickly spread across WhatsApp groups in Kanhangad and Ravaneswaram on Friday morning. Posts featuring Nidhin Raj's photograph with the tagline "Pride of Ravaneswaram" were widely shared and used as status updates.

Nidhin Raj is son of K Rajendran Nambiar and P Latha of Ravaneswaram's Ekkal House. He studied up to Class 10 at Ravaneswaram Higher Secondary School and later attended Durga Higher Secondary School in Kanhangad. A Mechanical Engineering graduate, he cleared the Civil Services Examination in 2018 with an All India Rank of 210 and completed his training at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

During his training period, he served in Mananthavady and Eroor in Kollam district. He later worked as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Nadapuram, Thalassery and Pala. After being promoted as Superintendent of Police (SP), he served in the Special Operations Group, the India Reserve Battalion Commandos, as Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in Thiruvananthapuram, and as Kozhikode Rural SP. For the past one-and-a-half years, he has been serving as Kannur City Police Commissioner.

Nidhin Raj earned praise from the State Police Chief for tracing a kidnapped two-year-old child and arresting the accused. The court later sentenced the offender to 60 years in prison. He also received the DGP's Badge of Honour while serving as DCP in Thiruvananthapuram and SP of Kozhikode Rural.

One of the notable cases handled by his team involved identifying a car that had fled after fatally hitting an elderly pedestrian. The vehicle was traced seven months after the accident, enabling the victim's injured grandchild to receive an insurance settlement of ₹1.5 crore.

Shortly after Nidhin Raj took charge as Kannur Commissioner, notorious convict Govindachamy escaped from prison. Under his leadership, police tracked down and arrested the fugitive within hours, earning widespread appreciation.

Apart from policing, Nidhin Raj has studied magic and mentalism and is also an accomplished photographer. In 2012, he won first place at the state-level speech competition organised by Mathrubhumi SEED.

His wife, Lakshmi Krishnan, is a doctor from Alappuzha and serves at Yenepoya Medical College in Mangaluru. The couple have a 3-year-old son, Vamshi.

Vishnu Pradeep posted to Alappuzha

Vishnu Pradeep, a native of Mavungal in Kanhangad, has been transferred as the District Police Chief of Alappuzha. He was previously serving as the District Police Chief of Kollam. An alumnus of Durga Higher Secondary School, Kanhangad, Vishnu Pradeep is son of advocate TK Sudhakaran and Elizabeth.