UPSC shortlists Nitin Agrawal, Ravada A. Chandrasekhar, Yogesh Gupta for SPC post

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday shortlisted Director Generals of Police (DGPs) Nitin Agrawal, Ravada A. Chandrasekhar and Yogesh Gupta for the post of the State Police Chief (SPC).

With the current SPC Shaik Darvesh Saheb set to retire on June 30, the State government is expected to select one of the three for the top position in the coming days. The UPSC meeting, which took place in New Delhi, was attended by Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak and Mr. Saheb.

In addition to the three shortlisted candidates, the Kerala government had forwarded the names of DGP Manoj Abraham, and Additional Directors General of Police (ADGP) Suresh Raj Purohit and M.R. Ajith Kumar to the Centre for consideration.

However, due to the UPSC’s strict criteria requiring a minimum of 30 years of service and only those holding the DGP rank to be eligible for the SPC post, the candidatures of the ADGPs were excluded from further deliberations.

Mr. Ajith Kumar, who has been criticised for lapses related to the Thrissur Pooram fiasco, had reportedly been favoured by the State government to succeed Mr. Saheb.

Mr. Agrawal, a 1989-batch officer, who currently serves as the Road Safety Commissioner, has previously held the post of the Director General of the Border Security Force.

Mr. Chandrasekhar, a 1991-batch officer, is currently Special Director at the Intelligence Bureau. He was recently appointed Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat, a position he is set to assume on August 1. Notably, he recently visited Thiruvananthapuram to meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Chief Secretary to express interest in the SPC role.

At present the Director General of Kerala Fire and Rescue Services, Mr. Gupta, belonging to the 1993 batch, has previously served as Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. However, he was transferred after just nine months due to reported differences with the State government. Moreover, the government has allegedly withheld his Vigilance clearance certificate, despite multiple requests from the Centre, thereby complicating his prospects for Central deputation.