For the first time, a woman has been shortlisted for the post of Kerala Police chief. On Thursday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) committee prepared a final list of three to be considered for the post of director-general of police in charge of law and order. One of the three recommended is Kerala fire force chief B Sandhya. The other two names on the list are Sudesh Kumar, director of vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, and safety commissioner Anil Kant.

The list does not have the name of Tomin J. Thachenkery, considered to be a close aide of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Chief Minister himself handles the Home portfolio and Thackenkery was widely tipped for the post.

Kerala Chief Minister now has a few more days left to decide on who should take the top post as the incumbent SPC Loknath Behra is to superannuate on June 30.Incidentally, there are ways in which Vijayan can circumvent the rules legally and if he desires he can still post Thachenkery as in-charge SPC of Law and Order and give the SPC post to one of the three in the UPSC list, minus the key component law and order.

The Kerala government’s list of 12 names also included senior police officer Arun Kumar Sinha. However, Sinha informed the UPSC committee that he was not interested in the position. At present, he is the director of the special protection group which provides security to the prime minister.

Kerala's Cochin International Airport wins global award for the fifth time

Kerala CM announces financial aid of Rs 20 lakh to the kin of woman who died in lift mishap

Doctors on strike today in Punjab to protest against the 6-Pay Comm. recommendations