The Kerala Government on Wednesday announced the appointment of Odisha’s Puri district-born 1985-batch IPS officer IPS officer lokanath Behera as the State’s Director General of Police with incumbent DGP TP Senkumar due to retire on Friday.
Behera had been posted as the State’s Vigilance chief when Senkumar was reinstalled as DGP following the Supreme Court’s intervention.
“I am very grateful to the government for giving me the post. I will continue the work I had started when I was there before,” Behera said after the Government brought him back to the prestigious post.
“My passion is investigation and I like it,” Behera said to the media.
Senkumar had got back the post in May after an 11-month legal battle when the Supreme Court directed the State Government to post him back as police chief.
However, the Goverment has not yet decided who will be the new Vigilance chief.
Chief Minister Vijayan had removed Senkumar the day he became Chief Minister in May last year and appointed Behera, the blue-eyed boy of the CPI(M), and brought back Jacob Thomas as Vigilance chief.
However, Thomas was later moved out to accommodate Behera as the Vigilance chief when Senkumar was posted back as DGP. Thomas, the senior-most police officer, then proceeded on leave. Recently, he returned after leave and was posted in a non-policing job as Director of the Institute of Management in Kerala. He had then said that very soon he would “open his mind”.