Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 8
In a surprise move Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who is also the Home Minister of Kerala, on Tuesday brought in top cop ADGP P. Vijayan as the new chief of the Intelligence wing of the Kerala Police.
P Vijayan for a while was suspended last year and after his suspension was revoked he was kept in obscure posts.
This sudden move comes two days after the now controversial ADGP (Law and Order) M.R. Ajith Kumar was removed following a huge protest from the Opposition and the second-biggest ally of the Vijayan government, the CPI.
Following Ajith Kumar being shunted out, the law and order post has gone to Manoj Abraham who headed the Intelligence wing till now.
The new Intelligence wing chief, P. Vijayan rose from working as a labourer when he was a student to cracking the Civil Services examination and becoming a popular officer through his hard work.
P. Vijayan's efforts even won him accolades from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The senior officer was listed as one of the 100 people to take part in the 100th episode of PM Modi's monthly radio program 'Mann Ki Baat', but the state government failed to give him permission to take part in it.
Incidentally last year P. Vijayan when he was the Inspector General of Police was suspended based on a report submitted by the now controversial Ajith Kumar and the charge against him was that he allegedly leaked crucial information to the media when Delhi resident Shahrukh Saifi, the accused in the Kozhikode train fire case, was brought from Maharashtra to Kerala last year.
Incidentally at that time, quick to latch on to this was Leader of Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, who pointed out that the suspension was due to a feud that had broken out in the police headquarters.
P. Vijayan is known for his no-nonsense approach to his job and is now seen as one of the cleanest high-ranking police officers in the state.
P. Vijayan appears to have got a post matching his credentials.