THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the government issuing a new order pertaining to the appointment of DGPs in the wake of the reshuffle row, the two DGPs, Loknath Behera and Rishiraj Singh, assumed their respective offices here on Tuesday. With this, the dust over the issue is likely to settle. Loknath Behera has joined as the new DGP(fire force) and Rishiraj Singh as the DGP (prisons). Both will hold positions equvalent to the cadre posts, sources said. The state government had issued a final ultimatum to the two officers the other day asking them to join on Tuesday itself; threatening to assign the posts to other officials if they failed to comply with the directive.
Speaking to ‘Express’, Loknath Behera, after assuming office, said that all the issues with the government had been sorted out and he along with Singh decided to join on Tuesday following the issuance of the second government order (GO).
“The new GO clarifies that the posts of DGPs are based on the All India Service rules. The rules mentioned in the old GO was incorrect. However, the necessary corrections have been made in the new GO by equating the said posts to a cadre post. We also discussed this matter with Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson and later we assumed office. Hence, we are optimistic about the new positions”, Behera said. Meanwhile, the IPS officers’ association has called on the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson on Tuesday to express their displeasure over the rejig in the police department. The association had also passed a resolution against the government’s move to reshuffle the top brass of the police force. The resolution also demanded deserving remuneration and incentives for the DGs and the sanctioning of cadre posts.
The row over reshuffle erupted after the former prison DGP Loknath Behera and former DGP (Battalion) Rishiraj Singh expressed their displeasure over their transfer.