Govt to examine whether officer outside final list be given in-charge DGP 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is heard that the government is seeking legal advice on selecting a new police chief in the state. The government is examining whether an officer outside the final list submitted by the UPSC can be given the charge. There are in-charge DGPs in seven other states. The government is also examining this method. The names of Nitin Agarwal, Ravada Chandrasekhar and Yogesh Gupta are in the final list of the UPSC. It is in this context that Kerala is seeking legal advice.

The office of the chief minister is seeking legal advice from lawyers in the Supreme Court. It was earlier informed that the cabinet would meet on Monday to decide on the new police chief. Meanwhile, the government has taken a new step to seek a new possibility. Ravada Chandrasekhar was the officer in charge at the time of the Koothuparamba firing. This action indicates that the government is not interested in the three officers shortlisted.

The three were shortlisted by a committee comprising the UPSC chairman, Union Home Secretary, state DGP, Chief Secretary and a chief of one of the central forces. The term of the present police chief Shaikh Darvesh Sahib ends on June 30.

Nitin Agarwal, the road safety commissioner, is in top of the list. He is a 1989 batch officer. Ravada Chandrashekhar, who is in the second place, is an IB special director and a 1991 batch officer. Yogesh Gupta, who comes third is the fire force chief and is a 1993 batch officer. Manoj Abraham's name was in the fourth place in the list. However, since the track record of the first three was good, the UPSC meeting decided not to go to the fourth.