A new complication has developed in the story of selecting a new head of the Bihar Police. As a result, the selection of the next DGP has got caught in a limbo.
Former IPS officer Vinay Kumar’s VRS and subsequent appointment as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of the state left the post vacant since September 25.
Senior IPS officer Preeta Verma (IPS:1991:BH) is currently looking after the state police as an acting DGP and was being considered a frontrunner for the role.
But, as sources indicate, the Bihar government had made up its mind to make Jitendra Singh Gangwar (IPS:1993:BH) the new DGP in the changed circumstances. His name is reported to have been almost finalized.
But then Gangwar’s senior IPS officer B. Srinivasan (IPS:1992:BH), who is currently on central deputation, is said to have expressed his desire to return to his home cadre state for the sake of becoming DGP.
Srinivasan has been serving as the DG of the National Security Guard (NSG) since August 2024. Due to the nature of his work, he is close to the PMO. According to sources, there is a powerful lobby in Delhi that wants Srinivasan to become the next DGP.
On the other hand, the state govt is said to be in favour of Gangwar.
If sources are to be believed, the state govt is planning to activate its next plan, if no consensus is reached on Gangwar and Srinivasan. The state govt is said to be working on a strategy to work with the acting DGP for the next 6 months i.e. till March 2027.
If it is done, both Gangwar and Srinivasan will get excluded from the race, as they will be retiring in July and August next year with no minimum six-months residual service left for them to be considered for a regular DGP post. In that case, it can make an officer of its choice- Kundan Krishnan (IPS:1994:BH)- a permanent DGP.
Krishnan will then be among the three senior-most IPS officers in the state as by March 2027, his other two seniors, 1993 batch IPS officers Arvind Kumar and Sunil Kumar Jha, will retire.
As per the Supreme Court’s directions in the Prakash Singh case, the UPSC would shortlist a panel of only those officers, whose service is at least 6 months left.
In this way, by March 2027, four IPS officers senior to Kundan Krishnan will be out of the race for DGP. And when the list for permanent DGP is sent in March, his name will be included as the third in the list.
In that case, the state govt can easily appoint Kundan Krishnan DGP out of the top three IPS officers in seniority.
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