Encounter specialist Prashant Kumar has been appointed as acting DGP of Uttar Pradesh. With this Uttar Pradesh got fourth straight acting DGP since May 2022.
Vijay Kumar, a 1988-batch IPS, who was serving as acting DGP, is getting retired today. The BuckStopper had predicted appointment of Prashant Kumar yesterday.
Prahsant Kumar, considered close to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, was on 19th spot in seniority has been given this big responsibility. Credited to have done 300 encounters, Prahant Kumar is known to be a tough cop. He is due to retire in May 2025.
Apart from Prashant Kumar, IPS officers including Ashish Gupta, Sandeep Solanke, Renuka Mishra, B K Maurya and Avinash Chandra were also in reckoning. Other eligible officers like Safi Ahsan Rizvi, Aditya Mishra, P V Ramasastri and Daljit Singh Chaudhary are on central deputation.
A native of Siwan in Bihar, Prashant Kumar was allotted Tamil Nadu cadre. But he got married to an 1989 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Dimple Verma, who was superannuated in 2022. He came to Uttar Pradesh in 1994 in an inter cadre transfer on marriage ground.
Known to be a daredevil officer, Prashant Kumar is a recipient of gallantry award twice – 2020 and 2021. He was armed with Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) for encounter of interstate gangster Shiv Shakti Naidu.
UP had three acting DGP since May 2022
In last one and half years, Uttar Pradesh has got three director general of police. On May 11, 2022 full time DGP Mukul Goyal was suddenly removed and then DG intelligence DS Chauhan was made acting DGP. Chauhan retired on March 31, 2023. DG Police Recruitment Board RK Vishwakarma was made acting DGP after the retirement of DS Chauhan.
Later Vijay Kumar was made acting DGP on May 30, 2023 after retirement of RK Vishwakarma on May 30, 2023.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
