Hyderabad: Senior Odisha cadre IPS officer Abhay has been appointed director of the prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), the Hyderabad-based school for Indian Police Service officers.
The post was lying vacant for over two months; the previous director’s tenure had ended in March. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal of the Union home ministry on Mr Abhay’s appointment.
Mr Abhay, a 1986 batch officer, is posted as Director-General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Three other IPS officers including one from Telangana state cadre were in the race for the prestigious post: Mr N.R.K. Reddy (Rajasthan cadre) and Mr A. Hemachandran (Kerala cadre), both from the 1986 batch and Mr Santosh Mehra of the 1987 batch of Telangana cadre.
The term of the previous director of NPA D.R. Doley Barman had come to an end on March 29 and Mr Umesh Kumar, another IPS officer, had been made incharge director. “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Abhay as director of NPA by temporarily downgrading the post to the level of additional director general for a combined tenure up to his superannuation till June 30, 2021 or until further orders,” the order read. He had been appointed DG, NCB, in January 2018. Contacted by Deccan Chronicle, Mr Abhay said, “As IPS officers, we keep visiting the NPA regularly.”
