THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The empanelment committee of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that met in New Delhi on Monday did not spring any surprise and shortlisted K Padmakumar, Shaik Darvesh Saheb and Harinath Mishra for the post of the next State Police Chief.
The committee that comprised Chief Secretary V P Joy and incumbent Police Chief Anil Kant went by the seniority and elected the three senior-most officers from the state for the race's final leg for the coveted post that will fall vacant on June 30 when Anil steps down.
The ball is now in the state government's court to pick the candidate from among the three. The state had forwarded to the UPSC a list of eight senior IPS officers as potential candidates to take over the reins of the police from Anil. BSF director general Nitin Agrawal, Prisons director general K Padmakumar, Fire and Rescue Services director general Shaik Darvesh Saheb, Intelligence Bureau additional directors Harinath Mishra and Ravada A Chandrasekhar, Coastal Security ADGP Sanjeeb Kumar Patjoshi, Intelligence ADGP T K Vinod Kumar and Beverages Corporation MD Yogesh Gupta were the eight officers who were in the fray.
The senior-most officer Nitin, elevated as the BSF DG last week, informed his decision to stay on central deputation, while Padmakumar and Shaik had expressed their desire to be part of the race. Following Nitin's decision, the next officer in line, Harinath, was included in the shortlist. The meeting also assessed the officers' annual confidential reports (ACR) with reference to the past ten years and examined their past service records before reaching a decision.