M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan. 22: The Jharkhand government is set to appoint a new DGP on February 12. This is to happen after the present DGP Neeraj Sinha retires on February 11.
Well-placed sources have informed Lagatar24 correspondent that the state government has stated this decision in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.
Notably, the next DGP will be one of the three IPS officers- Ajay Bhatnagar, Ajay Kumar Singh and Anil Palta -shortlisted by the UPSC in January from the list of names provided to it by the Jharkhand government earlier.
Of these, Ajay Bhatnagar is a 1989 batch Jharkhand cadre IPS officer and has a master’s degree in Economics.
Bhatnagar is right now the joint director of CBI in Delhi. His joining as Jharkhand DGP is most unlikely as he is set to go further up in the CBI informed a senior IPS officer here in Jharkhand on the condition of anonymity.
The other candidate, Ajay Kumar Singh, is a 1989 batch Jharkhand cadre IPS officer. He has an MSc in Chemistry and hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Singh is DG cum Chief of the Anti Corruption Bureau in Jharkhand.
On the other hand, Anil Palta is a 1990-batch Jharkhand cadre IPS officer from Haryana. He is presently DG Railways in Jharkhand.
Meanwhile, another IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Satya Narayan Pradhan, who is right now the Director General, the National Disaster Response Force and has the additional charge of DG civil defence and home guards Delhi may have been the next.
However, Pradhan is said to have opted out of the panel of the names of the IPS officers recommended for the post, said another senior IPS officer, This happened despite the fact that he was to be next after Neeraj Sinha.
As per sources, Neeraj Sinha was to retire on January 31, 2022, but the state government had then extended his tenure incurring extreme displeasure from the UPSC. The UPSC had objected to the decision of the state government in regard to Sinha.
Sources have also claimed that a minimum of 2 years’ tenure is most expected of a DGP and one of the three choices, Ajay Kumar Singh may be able to complete his tenure if appointed to the coveted post.
