New Commissioners of Police appointed for Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda

The order appointing Shahnawaz Qasim.

Kothakota Sreenivasa Reddy, a 1994 batch IPS officer, who was holding the position of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Organisations and Legal is the new Commissioner of Police in Hyderabad City.

Sandeep Shandilya, a 1993 batch IPS officer, who was the incumbent Hyderabad City Commissioner, has been posted as the director of the Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau.

G Sudheer Babu,  a 2001 batch IPS officer, who was the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Hyderabad City is the new Commissioner of Police in Rachakonda, replacing Devendra Singh Chauhan.

#IPS transfers in #Telangana
Within a few days after assuming power, the Telangana government transferred the Police Commissioners of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda.
K Sreenivasa Reddy, ADGP, Organisations & Legal, Telangana, is now the new Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad… pic.twitter.com/nwkLaBha33

— South First (@TheSouthfirst) December 12, 2023

Chauhan, a 1997 batch IPS officer, has been directed to report to the office of the DGP.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Admin) in Cyberabad Avinash Mohanty, a 2005 batch officer, has been transferred and posted as Commissioner of Police in Cyberabad, replacing M Stephen Raveendra of the 1999 IPS batch who was has been directed to report to the office of the DGP.

Meanwhile, an official has confirmed to South First that the ECI had revoked on Tuesday the suspension of former DGP Anjani Kumar at the request of the state government.

Also Read: Telangana CM orders immediate payment of Rythu Bandhu funds

Other decisions

The Telangana government had, on 9 December, rescinded the appointments of seven advisors to the previous BRS dispensation in the state.

These advisors included four retired IAS and IPS officers, one each from the Indian Economic Service (IES) and Indian Forest Service (IFS), and a former BRS MLA. All officers were reportedly close to BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao.

While in the Opposition, the incumbent Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had accused these officials, especially former chief secretary Somesh Kumar who took VRS and was appointed advisor to the chief minister, of colluding with the BRS and misusing funds.

The government had also rescinded the appointments of 54 chairpersons of corporations and departments.

The orders also nullified the extension of Prof R Limbadri as the chairman of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education, as well as his role as vice-chairman I of the council. Likewise, the extension of Prof V Venkataramana as the vice-chairman II of the council was also cancelled.

Other notable figures whose appointment or extension orders were rescinded include Allam Narayana, the chairman of Telangana State Media Academy, Mohammed Saleem, the chairman of the State Haj Committee, and M Yadagiri Reddy, the chairman of State Roads Development Corporation and former MLA.

Meanwhile, Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Chairman Janardhan Reddy stepped down from his position, submitting his resignation on Monday.

The resignation, addressed to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, received her approval and has been forwarded to Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari for the necessary administrative process.

Janardhan Reddy had told South First, “Yes, I have resigned from the position of chairman of the TSPSC.” He cited personal reasons — especially developments over the last six months.

Also Read: EC orders suspension of DGP hours after meeting Revanth Reddy

Transfers by ECI

On 3 December the Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended the then Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar and issued notices to Additional DG (Crime Investigation Department) M Mahesh Bhagwat and Additional DG (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar Jain for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which was in force at that moment.

The charge against them was visiting TPCC Chief A Revanth Reddy, who is the current chief minister of Telangana, on the day counting of the votes polled in the state Assembly election was taking place.

Subsequently, then Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Ravi Gupta was given the Full Additional Charge (FAC) of the post of Telangana DGP. Ravi Gupta took charge the same evening.

The ECI had on 11 October transferred the then Hyderabad City Police Commissioner CV Anand along with Warangal Police Commissioner AV Ranganath and Nizamabad Police Commissioner V Satyanarayana, without giving them posting orders.

In the same order, 10 Superintendents of Police (SPs) were also transferred.

They are: Rajendra Prasad – SP Suryapet; M Ramana Kumar – SP Sangareddy; B Srinivas Reddy – SP Kamareddy; A Bhaskar – SP Jagtiyal; K Narsimha – SP Mahabubnagar; K Manohar – SP Nagarkurnool; K Srujana – SP Jogulamba Gadwal; G Chandra Mohan – SP Mahabubabad; N Venkateshwarlu – SP Narayanpet and P Karunakar – SP Jayashankar Bhupalapally.

ECI also ordered the transfer of four district collectors, S Harish (Rangareddy); D Amoy Kumar (Medchal Malkajgiri); Vinay Krishna Reddy (Yadadri Bhuvangiri) and Vishnu Reddy (Nirmal).

Subsequently, Sunil Sharma who was serving as the special chief secretary in the energy department was reassigned to the position of special chief secretary overseeing excise, commercial taxes, and endowments departments.

Simultaneously, Jyoti Buddha Prakash who was a secretary in the industries and commerce department, handling handlooms, textiles, and handicrafts, was transferred to the role of commissioner for the prohibition and excise department.

Further, Christina Z Chongthu, who held the position of secretary and commissioner in the tribal welfare department, was shifted to the role of commissioner for commercial taxes. A Vani Prasad, the former director general of EPTRI (Environment Protection Training and Research Institute), was reassigned to the post of principal secretary with the transport department.

On 21 October, the ECI issued another order transferring Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) in Hyderabad.

Birudaraju Rohit Raju was posted as DCP of the southeast zone in Hyderabad, B Balaswamy as DCP of the southwest zone, Nitika Pant as DCP of the task force in Hyderabad, Chetana Mylabathula as DCP of Peddapalli, and Tarun Joshi appointed as the Joint Commissioner of Rachakonda.

Simultaneously, P Radha Kishan, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the task force, was instructed to promptly hand over the charge to the newly appointed officer.