THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The appointment of Ravada A Chandrasekhar as the new state police chief was on expected lines, to put it bluntly. Unlike the previous two instances — in 2021, when Anil Kant, and in 2023, when Shaik Darvesh Saheb were selected — the government this time round was short of options and the writing on the wall was clear.
In 2021, the selection boiled down to Anil Kant or B Sandhya, while in 2023 it was Shaik Darvesh vs K Padmakumar. There were frenetic lobbying and umpteen last-minute patch-up meets to shore up the claims of the candidates. The government was hard-pressed due to its options.
This time, though, the situation was reversed. The government was in a quandary as the three names expected in the UPSC shortlist — Nitin Agarwal, Ravada and Yogesh Gupta — appealed to it the least.
Nitin, the government assessed, was not popular with fellow officers. It had questions about Yogesh after he allegedly transferred files on K M Abraham, chief principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to a central agency without consulting the state government.
With Ravada, the CPM-led government had an axe to grind. He was indicted in the 1994 Koothuparamba firing incident, a rallying point of left youth activism, in which five DYFI members were killed.
At the time Ravada was an ASP, fresh out of training from the SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad. The officer was suspended in connection with the incident, but was later redrafted.
However, the High Court quashed the case against cops, including Ravada, after the government did not issue sanction for prosecution.
Sources within the police and the government say Ravada was chosen out of compulsion. “Ravada is undoubtedly a good candidate. He is soft-spoken and can take the entire pack along with him. But he carries the stigma of being involved in the Koothuparamba case. But the government chose to overlook it as it was not at all comfortable with the other two names. So, the moment UPSC sent back the shortlist, it was almost decided who the next police chief would be,” a highly placed source said.
CPM state secretary M V Govindan’s response revealed that the party is willing to shed the emotional baggage and take things in its stride. “It was just two days prior to the firing that Ravada was posted after his training. He had no prior knowledge of the issue or the place,” Govindan said, justifying the appointment.
Apart from Koothuparamba, the government was also apprehensive about Ravada’s political leanings, given his 15-year uninterrupted tenure at the Centre — his latest stint was with the Intelligence Bureau, which acts as the eyes and ears of the Union government. With the assembly election slated for next year, the state government wanted an officer whom it could trust.
Meanwhile, police sources said the government initially did not expect it would have to face the predicament of having to pick a police chief from three officers with whom it did not enjoy any special equation. The idea of having an interim police chief dawned late. By then, the list of probables had been sent to the UPSC.
“It was a tactical error. Once UPSC had prepared a shortlist, there was no other option left for the state government. They knew legal action will be initiated if they pick an officer from outside the UPSC list,” said the source. Ravada, meanwhile, told media in Delhi that he was happy to lead the state police, which is a professional outfit.