Ravada takes charge as new Kerala police chief, vows strong action on drugs

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior IPS officer Ravada A Chandrasekhar took charge as the new Kerala state police chief on Tuesday morning at the police headquarters, a day after he was appointed to the key post by the Left government.

He succeeded Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retired on Monday.

He was welcomed by senior officers and officially assumed office at around 7 am.

The baton was handed over to the new police chief by ADGP (Law and Order) H Venkatesh, to whom the charge had temporarily been given by Saheb upon his retirement.

After the formalities were completed at the police headquarters, he offered a floral tribute at the memorial within the premises.

Later, he departed for the northern Kerala district of Kannur to participate in a review meeting attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Chandrasekhar is a 1991 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh. He previously served as the special director at the Central Intelligence Bureau.

After taking charge, Chandrasekhar expressed his happiness at beginning his new role, while acknowledging the challenges ahead.

"It's a very happy moment and definitely a challenging one as well. Policing is a very dynamic job," he said.

He added that he would move forward with the support of his colleagues.

The police chief stated that the ongoing anti-drug campaign in the state would be intensified and awareness programmes would be strengthened with participation from the community and families.

Very strong action would be taken against those involved in drug-related offences, especially peddlers and others, he told reporters.

He noted that drug abuse is a nationwide problem and called for a collective effort to address it.

Speaking on crimes against women, Chandrasekhar described the issue as serious and assured that strong action would be taken after examining the cases.

"Any crime against women is a very serious matter, and swift, firm action will be taken against those responsible," he said.

He added that the Kerala police handles law and order very efficiently and that it would continue to be maintained effectively.

He, however, evaded questions related to differences of opinion within the ruling CPI(M) over murder charges he once faced in connection with the Kuthuparamba police firing incident in 1994, in which five activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the Marxist party, were killed.

The Kerala High Court quashed the murder charges framed against police officials, including Chandrasekhar, in 2012.

Prominent CPI(M) leader from Kannur, P Jayarajan, had indirectly expressed displeasure, stating, "The decision was administrative, not political." However, party state secretary M V Govindan backed the government's move, stating that Chandrasekhar's appointment was based on merit.

CPI(M)'s Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh on Tuesday said the state government cannot make the DGP appointment using full discretionary power.

He said the appointment is made as per the rules and that the government takes a decision only after examining various factors.

Ragesh said Chandrasekhar had arrived in Koothuparamba as an ASP in November 1994, without knowing much about the region.

He also elaborated on parts of the commission report that investigated the Koothuparamba firing incident.

Meanwhile, during the new police chief's press conference, a person pretending to be a journalist approached him with some papers and raised a complaint.

Chandrasekhar assured that the complaint would be examined.

The police headquarters have launched an investigation into how the individual gained access to the press conference venue and raised the issue.