AGARTALA, June 13 - Tripura has been without a full-time Director General of Police (DGP) for over four months now. Following the retirement of former DGP Akhil Kumar Shukla, senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh has been at the helm as the acting DGP since January 31 this year.
Absence of a full-fledged DGP is causing problems in usual functioning of the police force. Before Shukla�s retirement, the UPSC had sent a panel of two senior IPS officers � VS Yadav and Amitabh Ranjan � to the State Government for appointment of the police chief.
The State Government opted for Ranjan, who was posted as the Additional Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi.
Ranjan, however, could not take charge as the MHA declined to release him. The MHA told the State Government that Ranjan was associated with some key investigations, and that it would not be possible to release him at this stage.
On the other hand, Yadav, who spent substantial time on deputation to the Special Protection Group (SPG) in Delhi, is now posted as Principal Secretary and he is senior to the State�s Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar.
As a result, the State Government appointed Rajiv Singh, a 1993-batch IPS officer, as the in-charge DGP as an interim measure. Since Singh is officiating as an acting DGP, he cannot perform all the assigned duties of a full-fledged DGP. As the in-charge DGP can only perform the routine works, it has affected the unified command and control of the police force, said a senior IPS officer on condition of anonymity.
