Tamil Nadu appoints acting head of police, Annamalai calls move illegal, damaging

The Tamil Nadu government announced on Sunday that senior IPS officer G Venkataraman has been appointed as the acting Director General of Police (DGP) and Head of Police Force (HoPF) of the state. He succeeds Shankar Jiwal, who demitted office upon retirement.

However, the appointment of Venkataraman has triggered criticism from former BJP state president K Annamalai who described the move as illegal and claimed it would weaken the police force.

“DGP Shankar Jiwal retired on Sunday morning and G Venkatraman took charge as acting DGP of the state. What was the need to bypass six seniors and appoint Venkatraman as acting DGP? Six IPS officers will now have to face issues. Seema Agarwal, Sandeep Rai Rathore, Abhay Kumar Singh, Vanniyaperumal, Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar were seniors,” Annamalai said.

He further alleged that of the eight DGPs currently serving, six who were senior to Venkataraman and two juniors boycotted the event. “How are we going to maintain law and order? Police friends are now weak due to the problems, fights and power competition induced by Chief Minister into the police force,” claimed Annamalai.

Citing a Union Government report on women’s safety, Annamalai added, “NARI 2025 report shows that of the 31 cities, Chennai is in 21st place. Only 6 per cent women feel totally safe, 46 per cent women feel safe while 48 per cent women have said that they don’t feel safe. The DMK government should hang their heads in shame. I condemn Chief Minister Stalin causing a fight within the police force amidst this. According to us, this is illegal and not permitted by law.”

Annamalai demanded that the list containing five names for the post of DGP be immediately sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and that the appointment be made from the three names recommended by the Commission.

At an event held on Sunday, Jiwal, a 1990 batch IPS officer, handed over a bouquet to Venkataraman at his office, marking the change of guard. On August 30, Jiwal was appointed Chairman of the newly constituted Tamil Nadu Fire Commission with effect from September 1.

In another development, Vinit Dev Wankhede, DGP Headquarters, Office of the DGP, was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation Limited, Chennai. He replaces Shailesh Kumar Yadav, who retired from service, according to the release.

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