THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ravada A Chandrasekhar has taken charge as the state police chief. ADGP H Venkatesh handed over the baton to the new police chief at a function held at the police headquarters at 7 am Tuesday morning. He later visited the Dheerasmriti Bhoomi and paid floral tributes. He then received a guard of honour. Ravada will participate in the review meeting to be held by the chief minister in Kannur at 10 am.

Ravada A Chandrasekhar, who was the special director at the Central Intelligence Bureau headquarters, was appointed as the police chief by the government the other day. He is a 1991 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer. Ravada is the second in the three-member list given by the UPSC for appointment.

After the appointment order was forwarded by the chief secretary to the union home ministry yesterday, Ravada was released from the central service in the evening. Ravada has service till July 2026. However, since the Supreme Court has ordered that the police chief should have a two-year term, it will be extended by one year. Ravada has replaced Shaik Darvesh Sahib, who retired from service.

Ravada started his service as additional SP in Thalassery. He had worked as an SP in Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Ernakulam Rural, Railway, Vigilance, Ernakulam Range and Crime Branch, as AIG at the police headquarters, and as the commandant of the KAP 2nd Battalion and 3rd Battalion. He worked as a part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia.

He had also worked as the commissioner of Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. He was DIG in Thrissur and Ernakulam ranges. He joined the center as IG of the crime records bureau. He had worked as deputy director at the IB headquarters and in Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. After being promoted to ADGP, he became the additional director of the IB. He is a native of Rajahmundry, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. His wife is Saritha and has two children.