Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director-General Vikram Srivastava is understood to have been replaced by Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer K Vijay Kumar, who had earlier led successful operations against sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
Srivastava, who was made the CRPF chief in February this year, is reportedly given charge of the Bureau of Police Research and Development in Delhi. Srivastava came in for criticism after CRPF battalions came under lethal Naxal attacks in Dantewada in Chattisgarh this year.
Fifty-eight-year-old Vijay Kumar had headed the Special Task Force for a long time and led operations that culminated in the dramatic elimination of Veerapan in October 2004. Winner of President’s Police Medal for gallantry, the 1975-batch officer will now head the largest para-military force in the country.
Vijay Kumar headed the National Police Academy in Hyderabad from 2008 and also had a two-year tenure in Kashmir as Inspector General.