IPS officer cleared in Koothuparamba case rises to Kerala Police Chief

Ravada A Chandrasekhar, a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Kerala cadre, hailing from Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari region, has spent over three decades serving the nation through complex, high-pressure roles in policing and intelligence. 

On Monday, Ravada was appointed as the new police chief from a final list of 3 contenders, which also included Road Safety Commissioner Nitin Agarwal and Fire and Rescue Services Director General Yogesh Gupta. 

Koothuparamba incident

In 1994, just days after being transferred from Hyderabad to Kerala, he found himself caught amid the controversial Koothuparamba police firing, which claimed the lives of five youth DYFI activists. He was one of the officials charged with murder after the tragic deaths of five. The case lingered for nearly two decades before the Kerala High Court cleared him of all charges in 2012. 

Intelligence Bureau

His promotion to Special Director of the IB made him associate with some of the country’s most critical internal security operations. Starting in field intelligence, Chandrasekhar climbed the ranks to serve in Mumbai which is one of the IB’s most strategic zones as Additional Director. He was later promoted to Special Director, a top-tier position in India’s internal intelligence hierarchy.

More leadership and service

In 2023, the Government of India empanelled Chandrasekhar for appointment as Director General (DG). That same year, he was promoted by the Kerala Government to the DGP grade, alongside senior IPS officers Harinath Mishra and Dr Sanjeeb Kumar Patjoshi.

Back to Kerala as Inspector General

As of June 2025, Chandrasekhar, after an illustrious tenure as Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed as the Inspector General of Police (IG), Kerala, marking his return to state-level leadership.