Bhopal: DGP Vivek Johri on verge of retirement; who will be new DGP is question yet to be answered by govt

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): There are just a few days left for retirement of the incumbent director general of police (DGP) Vivek Johri but there is no decision so far on the new DGP as there is no order in this regard.

Born on September 27, 1960 a 1984 batch IPS officer Johri was appointed as the DGP during the then Kamal Nath government in March, 2020 for a two-year term. He assumed office on March 12, 2020.

According to officials, till a decision is taken on the panel of three names of the IPS officers to be sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for selection of one of them for the post the state government may appoint one of the senior most IPS officers as DGP in charge till the formal appointment on the post.

As words are doing the rounds in the power corridors 1988 batch IPS officer RK Tandon may be appointed as the DGP in charge. Tandon is going to retire in May this year.

Ahead of Johri being appointed as the DGP in 2020 Rajendra Kumar was appointed as the DGP in charge in the state.

Though there is no word from the state government as to why there is a delay in sending the panel of names to the UPSC, the home department recently contradicted a post doing the rounds in social media that 1987 batch IPS officer Sudhir Kumar Saxena was going to become the new DGP.

The Home department said a high level discussion was going on in regard with appointment of the new DGP.

Predicament on the part of the state government can be understood as the state is to witness the next assembly elections in November 2023 i.e. in less than two years from now.

Besides Saxena, the senior most IPS officers in the cadre in the state include 1986 batch IPS officer Purushottam Sharma who is placed under suspension and whose chances of becoming the DGP is grim, 1987 batch IPS officer Pawan Kumar Jain, his batchmates Shailesh Singh and Rajendra Kumar Mishra.