VIJAYAWADA: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday issued orders transferring the State Director General of Police (DGP) Kasireddy Rajendranath Reddy with immediate effect. The move comes after leaders of the Opposition TDP lodged several complaints and raised the issue of lapses in security arrangements during the Prime Minister’s public meeting at Chilakaluripet.
Additionally, the poll panel directed Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy to ensure the DGP hands over the charge to an officer below his rank and is not assigned any election-related duties. The ECI further directed the Chief Secretary to submit names of three DG-rank officials, along with their APAR grading for the last five years and Vigilance clearance, eligible for the post by 11 am on Monday.
Rajendranath Reddy, a 1992 batch IPS officer, was appointed as DGP in February 2022, replacing D Gautam Sawang. Earlier, Reddy had served as an Intelligence chief.
Soon after orders to transfer Rajendranath Reddy were issued, power corridors were abuzz with talk of who will be appointed as the next DGP in the State. According to the State IPS service list, five officers — APSRTC managing director Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao (1990), Road Safety Authority chairman Anjana Sinha (1990), Madireddy Pratap (1991), Principal secretary (Home) Harish Kumar Gupta (1992) and State Disaster Response and Fire Services DG PV Sunil Kumar (1994) — hold the DG rank. The Chief Secretary has to take the final call and send the names of three of the five officers to the ECI.