The Kerala government has appointed Anil Kant as the next State Police Chief (SPC).
Mr. Kant succeeds Loknath Behera, who will retire on Wednesday. Mr. Behera will hand over charge to Mr. Kant at the police headquarters in the afternoon.
The 1988 batch officer is currently the State Road Safety Commissioner. He had joined the Kerala cadre as ASP, Wayanad.
Mr. Kant is arguably a dark horse for the post of SPC. The Union Public Service Commission had vetted four ranking officers from Kerala for the top job.
They are Tomin J. Thachankary, Sudeesh Kumar, B. Sandhya and Mr. Kant. The political executive reportedly preferred Mr. Thachankary to the post.
However, a pending disproportionate assets case worked to his disadvantage. The UPSC struck Mr. Thachankary’s name out from the panel of SPC candidates.
Mr. Kumar had earned the ire of various police associations who accused him of making errand boys out of official drivers and personal security officers.
Ms. Sandhya, if elevated as SPC, would have been the first woman to occupy the top post. She is currently head of the Fire and Rescue Services Department.
An avid runner, Mr. Kant is a post-graduate in political science. He is a native of New Delhi. Mr. Kant is due to retire in January, 2022.
Earlier, Mr. Behera took the salute at the farewell parade organised in his honour at the Special Armed Police ground.
In his farewell speech, Mr. Behera remembered that he had spent a better part of his 36 years of service in Kerala and had grown to love the State and its people. He often wore Keralite attire and spoke fluently in Malayalam.
