A week after taking oath as Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu has initiated major changes in the administration set-up and appointed a new Director General of Police (DGP) to the state. Chief Secretary Neerab Kumar Prasad issued orders appointing Dwaraka Tirumala Rao as the new DGP.
He is currently MD of APSRTC and will take charge as the new DGP of AP later on Thursday. During the election, the EC has removed the then DGP KV Rajendranath Reddy and appointed Harish Kumar Gupta. Though Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly decided to continue with him, the confusion during Chandrababu’s swearing-in as CM turned negative for him. Traffic became chaotic on that day.
Due to traffic jams Governor Abdul Nazir was unable to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gannavaram AirPort and he was also late for the swearing-in ceremony. He was got stuck in the traffic. His convoy was stopped for about 40 minutes. In the end DGP himself had to step in and clear the traffic for the governor’s convoy.
Prime Minister Modi was also expressed his displeasure over this whole affair. Finally, during the return journey, he asked no one need not come to Gannavaram airport to bid him farewell. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, a 1989 batch IPS officer, is currently leading the seniority list of state cadre IPS.
Hailing from Guntur, he had received the first posting as Kurnool ASP, worked as ASP in Kamareddy and Dharmavaram in the combined state. He held key responsibilities as Additional SP of Nizamabad District Operations. He was SP in Anantapur, Kadapa and Medak districts as well as Vijayawada railway, CID and CBI departments.
He served as DIG in SIB along with Anantapur and Hyderabad ranges. Worked as IG in Octopus and Counter Intelligence Cell departments. He served as Police Commissioner of Cyberabad and Police Commissioner of Vijayawada City after the partition of the state.
He has been RTC MD since June 2021. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao is recognized as an honest and competent officer in the police department. Normally the DGP is selected by a selection committee. Due to lack of time at present, the government has appointed.
Instead of being given the post of DGP directly, he was appointed in the post of DGP (Coordination). The order states that he will hold additional responsibilities as DGP while remaining in that position. Gupta will return back as Principal Secretary of the Home Department.
