Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada Chandrasekhar Appointed as Kerala’s New State Police Chief

Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada A Chandrashekhar has been appointed as the new State Police Chief of Kerala. The decision was taken during a special Cabinet meeting held online. Chandrashekhar, who has been serving on Central deputation for an extended period, is currently the Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau. A 1991-batch IPS officer from the Kerala cadre, he has held several key positions throughout his career.

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He began his official career as the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Thalassery. Within 48 hours of assuming office, the Koothuparamba police firing incident took place. In connection with this case, Ravada Chandrashekhar came under a cloud of allegations. Though initially held responsible, he was exonerated in 2012.

He has previously served as ASP in Pathanamthitta, SP of the Crime Branch in Palakkad and as Commissioner of Police in Thiruvananthapuram. Notably, his appointment is distinctive in that he is taking charge as the State Police Chief directly from Central deputation.

Traditionally, the newly appointed State Police Chief assumes office on the same day the outgoing chief steps down. However, Chandrashekhar is currently in Delhi and is expected to reach Thiruvananthapuram by evening. If he is unable to arrive on Monday, the outgoing DGP, Sheikh Darvesh Sahib, will hand over charge to either an ADGP at Police Headquarters or another senior officer.

Chandrashekhar was the second name on the UPSC's shortlist of three candidates for the Kerala DGP post. The top name on the list was Nitin Agarwal, the state's most senior IPS officer, followed by Yogesh Gupta, the current Director General of the Fire and Rescue Services.