Karnataka is soon going to have a new state police chief as the incumbent Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP), Alok Mohan, a 1987 batch IPS officer, will be relinquishing the post on May 21.
Mohan was virtually scheduled to retire on April 30 itself, but the state government extended his tenure until May 21, 2025 to enable him to complete a minimum two-year term as DG, as stipulated by the Supreme Court in the famous Prakash Singh of 2006. Mohan had assumed office as DG&IGP on May 21, 2023. Thus, the appointment of a new police chief has been delayed by three weeks.
In the prevailing scenario, there are two names doing the rounds for the top post – Fire and Emergency Services DGP Prashant Kumar Thakur and CID Chief M A Saleem. While Thakur belongs to the 1992 batch, Saleem is from the 1993 batch.
There are two other officers who could have been in the reckoning but are ruled out of the race due to different reasons. Ramchandra Rao, a 1993 batch officer, was placed under compulsory leave after his alleged involvement in the Ranya Rao smuggling case. So, Rao is out of the race. Similarly, Malini Krishnamurthy, another officer from the 1993 batch, is scheduled to retire in July and hence crashes out of the race.
In this way, there are only two contenders left in the race for the top job – Thakur and Saleem. Here again, there is a twist. If seniority takes precedence then Thakur should be the new police chief, but political preference is said to be favouring Saleem. Against this backdrop, Saleem is reported to be racing ahead.
If the state government decides in favour of Saleem as the next DG&IGP, then he will be the first Kannada-speaking officer to head the state police force in several decades.
