Speculations are rife that Kerala may get its first woman police chief soon as there is a greater possibility of the state government appointing the second top IPS officer in the state and already a DGP rank officer, R Sreelekha (IPS:1987:KL) as the next Top Cop, while shifting the incumbent state police chief, Loknath Behra (IPS:1985:KL), to other important assignment.
Sreelekha holds the record of being the first woman IPS officer in Kerala Cadre and was promoted to the rank of Director General of Police as the head of the Fire and Rescue Services department. This made her the first woman officer in the state to get the top rank in the state police.
However, already a DGP rank officer, Sreelekha is set to retire in December this year. Any government decision to pick the new state police chief is hence likely to get very tricky. The current police chief, Loknath Behra has already completed four years tenure as police chief and is slated to retire in June 2021. According to some reliable sources he is looking forward to a career at the national level and speculations are ripe that Behra, known for his closeness to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, might be considered for two ‘key’ posts in the state.
