The Kerala government has approved the promotion of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M R Ajith Kumar to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP). The state cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendation of the screening committee to bestow the DGP rank on the controversial IPS officer.
Ajith Kumar will be promoted to the DGP grade by July next year when a vacancy arises after the retirement of State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb. The screening committee, comprising the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, State Police Chief, and Vigilance Director, recently decided to promote Ajith Kumar to the DGP rank, even though he is currently under investigation on serious allegations.
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The committee felt that since no case is pending against him and he is not under suspension, there is no justification for withholding the elevation. Ajith Kumar, currently ADGP for the Armed Police Battalion, has been mired in controversy after P V Anvar, MLA, came up with a slew of allegations against him. Anvar alleged that Ajith was connected to a gold smuggling racket and had amassed huge wealth beyond his means of income. He was also embroiled in a political row over his controversial meetings with RSS leaders.
Besides Ajith Kumar, S Suresh, another 1995-batch officer, will also be promoted to the DGP rank.
A close confidant of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Ajith Kumar was stripped of the state’s law and order duties and posted to the Armed Police Battalion in October following the controversies and allegations against him.
