BANGALORE: The Karnataka police will miss efficient Kannadiga police officer, the present Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kempaiah, from Monday, as the state government has accepted his voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) application.
The main reason for Kempaiah decision to retire is being attributed to a heated argument with DG&IGP Ajay Kumar Singh recently, at a meeting of senior police officers.
Kempaiah is currently the ADGP of internal security, a newly formed division.
Kempaiah had handled several sensational cases, including that of tracing Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin, the one-eyed Sivarasan, and his associates at Konanakunte in Bangalore. Kempaiah was also the man to bring Shradhananda to book, for murdering his wife Shakira Khaleeli.
He was also a part of the STF team formed to capture forest brigand Veerappan.
Kempaiah is one of the few living personalities in the state, about whom movies have been made.
An IPS officer of the 1981 batch, his retirement was due in 2011. Kempaiah confirmed to the Express that the government had accepted his VRS application. After receiving his application, the government is said to have asked the DG&IGP for his opinion who asked the government to relieve Kempaiah from service. Disappointed with this, many senior officers said that the DG&IGP could have retained Kempaiah, if he wished to.
The officer was popular at the constabulary level, for his initiatives like construction of marriage hall for the police in Bangalore South (CAR), renovation of Mysore Police Commissionerate office and upgrading police quarters.
Acceptance of VRS questioned
The Lokayukta had filed a chargesheet for both corruption and misconduct against Kempaiah. Kempaiah had, however, got a stay order from the High Court against proceedings in the case.
