Three names shortlisted for DGP’s post

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 16

Haryana is likely to get a new Director General of Police early next week with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) finalising a three-member panel at its meeting nearly a fortnight after the post fell vacant following the superannuation of BS Sandhu. KP Singh, a 1985-batch officer, was made the officiating DGP.

The meeting, held on Friday in New Delhi, was attended by Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi.

Sources said that the panel of officers shortlisted by the UPSC for the top post in the Haryana Police has the names of 1985-batch officer K Selvaraj, 1986-batch officer Krishan Kumar Sindhu and 1988-batch officer Manoj Yadava. These names are likely to be forwarded to the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana which can take its pick.

Of the three officers, Selvaraj is due to retire in January 2021, Sindhu in August 2021 while Yadava, a “hardcore” officer of the Intelligence Bureau and also being seen as the front-runner for the post, has time till July 2025.

As he is on deputation to the IB, Yadava, under the rules, can be deputed to serve in the state for intelligence and security related assignments for a period of three years. By those standards, he fulfils the requirement of serving in his parent state for two years though it remains to be seen if he will continue even after that.

Sources said that the criteria adopted in the short-listing of officers was based on the court order that had fixed a two-year term for DGPs after Prakash Singh, former DGP of Uttar Pradesh, had filed a petition on police reforms. The UPSC, at its meeting on Friday, zeroed in on the top three officers who have age on their side and two years of service still to go.

The Haryana Government is likely to take a call on the new DGP soon after the panel is received next week. The Chief Minister, presently away on a three-day visit to Mauritius to participate in the International Gita Mahotsav, will be back on Sunday. A new DGP could be in place before the Budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha begins on February 20.