Ravada Chandrasekhar is the new police chief
A special meeting of Kerala Cabinet on Monday appointed Ravada A Chandrasekhar, a 1991 batch IPS officer, as the next State Police Chief. Ravada who is serving as the Special Director, Intelligence Bureau on central deputation, is expected to assume charge within two days.Ravada was selected from a list of three senior IPS officers recommended by the Union Public Service Commission. The other contenders in the list were Kerala Road Safety Commissioner Nitin Agarwal and the Director General of Fire and Rescue Services Yogesh Gupta. The incumbent state police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb retired on Monday after two years in office.Ravada will be the 41st police chief of Kerala. As per Supreme Court guidelines, Ravada will be able to enjoy a two-year tenure as police chief.Political controversyThe appointment of Ravada Chandrasekhar was not an easy task for the CPI(M)-led state government because of his alleged involvement in the infamous Koothuparamba firing of 1994. The incident happened on November 25, 1994, two days after Ravada Chandrasekhar was transferred from Hyderabad and posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Kannur district. Ravada was serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police in charge of police operations when police gunned down five activists of Democratic Youth Federation of Kerala in Koothuparamba in Kannur district for blocking the way of the then UDF Minister MV Raghavan. Another DYFI activist Pushpan, who was bedridden following the incident, died last year. In 2012, Kerala High Court quashed cases against police officers, including Ravada.Soon after the announcement, senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan came out expressing his displeasure over the decision. Jayarajan said that CPI(M) and DYFI had taken stands against both Ravada and Nitin. Jayarajan added that the Koothuparamba firing happened within a few days after Ravada took charge as ACP in Thalassery. He said that Nitin was accused of custodial torture of incumbent Koothuparamba CPI(M) local secretary M Sukumaran. “The government should explain the decision. The government took the decision based on merit. I am not part of the authority to decide who has merit,” he said.CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan justified the decision, saying that the selection was made from a list given by the Union government. Govindan said that Ravada had joined as ACP only two days ahead of the incident. “An investigative report had acquitted him of the charges,” he said.The state government is reported to have considered DGP Manoj Abraham and ADGP Ajith Kumar for the post. However, the government has to finally select from the list of three chosen by the UPSC. Ravada recently held a meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan even as speculations were rife on the state government’s choice of SPC.According to sources, the appointment of Ravada, who has one year of service remaining, was made possible because of the landmark Prakash Singh case, where the Supreme Court established clear guidelines to reduce political interference in police appointments. The guidelines require the state to consult the UPSC and choose from a shortlist of eligible officers, who have at least six months of service left. The selected candidate should be guaranteed a minimum tenure of two years to ensure stability.
A SPECIAL meeting of the Kerala Cabinet on Monday appointed Ravada A Chandrasekhar, a 1991 batch IPS officer, the next state police chief. Ravada, who is serving as the Special Director, Intelligence Bureau on central deputation, is expected to assume charge within two days.
Ravada was selected from a list of three senior IPS officers recommended by the Union Public Service Commission. The other contenders on the list were Kerala Road Safety Commissioner Nitin Agarwal and the Director General of Fire and Rescue Services Yogesh Gupta.
The incumbent state police chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb retired on Monday after two years in office.
Ravada will be the 41st police chief of Kerala. As per Supreme Court guidelines, Ravada will enjoy a two-year tenure as police chief.
Political controversy
The appointment of Ravada Chandrasekhar was not an easy task for the CPI(M)-led state government because of his alleged involvement in the infamous Koothuparamba firing of 1994.
The incident happened on November 25, 1994, two days after Ravada Chandrasekhar was transferred from Hyderabad and posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Kannur district.
Ravada was serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police in charge of police operations when police gunned down five activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of Kerala in Koothuparamba in Kannur district for blocking the way of the then UDF minister MV Raghavan.
Another DYFI activist Pushpan, who was bedridden following the incident, died last year. In 2012, the Kerala High Court quashed cases against police officers, including Ravada.
Soon after the announcement, senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan came out expressing his displeasure over the decision.
Jayarajan said that CPI(M) and DYFI had taken a stand against both Ravada and Nitin. Jayarajan added that the Koothuparamba firing happened within a few days after Ravada took charge as ACP in Thalassery.
He said that Nitin was accused of custodial torture of the incumbent Koothuparamba CPI(M) local secretary M Sukumaran.
“The government should explain the decision. The government made the decision based on merit. I am not part of the authority to decide who has merit,” he said.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan justified the decision, saying that the selection was made from a list given by the Union government. Govindan said that Ravada had joined as ACP only two days ahead of the incident.
“An investigative report had acquitted him of the charges,” he said.
The state government is reported to have considered DGP Manoj Abraham and ADGP Ajith Kumar for the post. However, the government has to finally select from the list of three chosen by the UPSC.
Ravada recently held a meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan even as speculations were rife on the state government’s choice of SPC.
According to sources, the appointment of Ravada, who has one year of service remaining, was made possible because of the landmark Prakash Singh case, where the Supreme Court established clear guidelines to reduce political interference in police appointments.
The guidelines require the state to consult the UPSC and choose from a shortlist of eligible officers, who have at least six months of service left. The selected candidate should be guaranteed a minimum tenure of two years to ensure stability.
