Behera back as new police chief

He has a long tenure to look forward to

Loknath Behera has a relatively long tenure of four years to look forward to when he succeeds T.P. Senkumar as State Police Chief (SPC) on Friday to begin his second innings in the top post.

The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the way for Mr. Behera’s comeback after he had relinquished the office in May to become the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

(The Supreme Court had forced the government’s hand to restore Mr. Senkumar as SPC after the apex court ruled that his abrupt removal in May last was arbitrary.)

Mr. Behera, who will retire only in June 2021, brings to his office years of experience as an investigator.

His time in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) corresponded with the high profile investigations into the Graham Staines murder case, the Purulia Arms Drop case, and Mumbai serial blasts. Later, Mr. Behera was part of the core team that founded the premier National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Mr. Behera’s high point in his career was his role as one of the lead investigators in the Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack case.

He interviewed David Headman Coley, the Pakistan-born US national who “surveyed” targets in Mumbai for LeT, in the custody of US law.

The 56-year-old officer’s maiden innings as SPC had commenced in an awkward political atmosphere caused by Mr. Senkumar’s unceremonious removal from the top post.

As SPC, he had drawn flak from within the ruling front for the killing of two Maoists in an “encounter” in the Nilambur forests last year and the handling of the Mahija issue. Mr. Behera also received bad press for the casual registration of UAPA cases against writers and intellectuals suspected to be Maoist sympathisers.

To his credit, Mr. Behera corrected the course and ordered the review of 162 UAPA cases registered since 2012. He also put strict limits on the application of the harsh law.

Mr. Behera told reporters that he was glad that the “government had reposed faith in him.” The SPC-designate said he would focus on investigation and modernisation.