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The race for the UP DGP post is on at full steam with the incumbent Hitesh Chandra Awasthi is set to retire by June-end and has also refused any extension of service.
The state government has already sent a panel of senior officers from 1986 to 1988 batch DG rank officers from Uttar Pradesh and a new DGP was likely to be announced by next week after consultations with the Central government in Delhi. The meeting in Delhi will also be attended by state chief secretary RK Tiwari and present DGP HC Awasthi.
The Central government will clear three names and forward it to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who will subsequently make a final call. The new DGP will be the fourth UP Police chief to be posted in the Yogi government which came to power in March, 2017. Hitesh Chandra Awasthi became the third DGP after Sulkhan Singh and OP Singh during the present tenure.
Well placed sources said in Lucknow on Thursday that the names of nine candidates were sent to the Union Home Ministry. There has been a lot of speculation about the name of the new DGP in view of the 2022 Assembly elections in UP. The Yogi government has so far given preference to seniority in postings of DGP.
DGP Hitesh Chandra Awasthi will be completing his term on June 30 and put an end to speculations of his extension.
As per the seniority list, 1986 batch IPS officer posted on Central deputation, Nasir Kamal was at the forefront and his service tenure was till July, 2022 but he might not get the nod due to political reasons.
Among officers with sufficient tenure to stake a claim, the names of 1987 batch IPS officer Mukul Goel posted on Central deputation and Dr RP Singh of the same batch posted as DG of EOW crop up. Both were being seen as strong contenders although Goel's earlier posting as ADG (Law and order) during the SP regime might serve as a spoiler.
Besides, the names of IPS officers of 1987 batch Vishwajit Mohapatra and GL Meena are also doing the rounds. A 1988 batch IPS officer and DG of Police Recruitment and Promotion Board Dr RK Vishwakarma along with batch mates, DS Chauhan and Anand Kumar were also being seen as contenders in the race.
Chauhan is currently posted as DG Intelligence and Anand Kumar is posted as DG Jail. The name of the 1988 batch officer posted on Central deputation, Anil Kumar Agarwal was also included in the seniority list.