Rupak Kumar Dutta, a 1981 batch IPS officer, at present on a Central posting as Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, is all set to become the next State police chief — Director-General and Inspector-General of Police.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the government had finalised the name of Mr. Dutta for the top post. However, orders have not been issued yet. The incumbent, Om Prakash, will retire on January 31.
Neelamani N. Raju, who recently returned from a long stint in the Intelligence Bureau, M.N. Reddi, DGP, Fire and Emergency Services, and Kishore Chandra, DGP, CID, were the three other officers in the race for the top post. Mr. Dutta, as the senior-most officer, was chosen. However, he will not have a long tenure as he will retire on October 31 this year, thus getting only a nine-month tenure.
Mr. Dutta was recently in the race for the post of Director, Central Bureau of Investigation too, where he had had a long stint during which he oversaw two Supreme Court-monitored probes into the 2G spectrum allocation and coal blocks allocation case.
Earlier, he was ADGP, Lokayukta Police when Justice Santosh N. Hegde was the Lokayukta, and was part of multiple probes against several politicians in office then. Mr. Dutta was also embroiled in a controversy when he was accused of creating fake documents for attendance during his law degree course, when he was the ADGP, Lokayukta Police. However, he got relief in the case as both the High Court, and recently the Supreme Court, quashed the case, paving the way for his selection, sources said.
