Names for state police chief shortlisted, pressure for Ajith Kumar did not yield any results

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The names of three have been shortlisted for the post of state police chief. The names of Nitin Agarwal, Ravada Chandrasekhar and Yogesh Gupta are in the list. Meantime, the pressure for M R Ajit Kumar did not yield any results. The central government will submit the list in writing to the state government. The state government will then select one from the list through a special cabinet meeting.

The UPSC meeting to prepare the three-member shortlist was held in Delhi today. The names shortlisted was by a committee comprising the UPSC chairman, union home secretary, state DGP, chief secretary and the chief of one of the central forces. The state government can appoint one of them. The term of the present police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb will end on June 30.

Nitin Agarwal, the commissioner of the Kerala Road Safety Authority, is the first in the list. He is a 1989 batch officer of IPS. Ravada Chandrashekhar, who is in second place, is a special director with the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He is 1991 IPS batch officer. Yogesh Gupta, who is in third place, is the fire force chief and is an officer of 1993 batch. 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 for the fourth.

The state submitted a list of six people. The state sent a list containing the names of Nitin Agarwal, Ravada Chandrashekhar, Yogesh Gupta, Manoj Abraham, Suresh Raj Purohit and M R Ajith Kumar to the center. However, the center had earlier clarified that only four officers of DGP rank would be considered.