Major rejig in Kerala Police: Commissionerates formed for Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi

In a major reshuffle in the Kerala police force, 46 IPS officers were transferred and assigned new posts on Thursday. Along with the reshuffle, the state police department has also formed Commisionerates in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram as well as in Ernakulam district, which will be headed by an Inspector General of Police (IG) each.

The changes were taken following a recent meeting which was called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and attended by the State Police Chief Loknath Behera and special adviser to the Government Raman Sreevastava.

IG Dinendra Kashyap, who was the range IG of Thiruvananthapuram, has been handed the responsibility of heading the Commisionerate in the state capital, whereas, IG Vijay Sakhare, who was the present range IG of Kochi, was given the responsibility of heading the Commisionerate in Kochi. The Commissionerate, according to a police source, will haven magisterial powers like that of the district magistrate. The order which involved the decision to form Commissionerates were signed by the Kerala CM on Thursday night.

Among the notable changes in the police force is the appointment of North Zone Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Sheikh Darwesh Sahib, as the new ADGP of Law and Order in the state. Sheikh Darwesh was until Thursday heading the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police.

Rishi Raj Singh, who was the State Excise Commissioner, is now the Director General of the Prison Department while the present DG of the Prison Department has been made the ADGP of Social Policing and Traffic.

The other notable changes that were made on Thursday include the appointment of South Zone ADGP Manoj Abraham as the ADGP of the Police Headquarters. S Ananthakrishnan, who was the headquarters ADGP will replace Rishi Raj Singh as the Excise Commissioner. On the other hand, Kannur Range IG MR Ajith Kumar has been appointed as the Thiruvananthapuram Range IG, while Ernakulam Police Commissioner S Surendran has been made the DIG of Ernakulam.