Thaindian News

By George Joseph
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Indian Police Service (IPS) officer K. Vijay Kumar, who will take over as the director general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Wednesday, says that the paramilitary force “will be readied to tackle the multi-faceted challenges”, especially Maoist extremism.

“I am looking forward to work with a group of talented and dedicated officers and men,” Vijay Kumar, 58, told IANS over phone from Hyderabad.

An IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Vijay Kumar had shot to fame when he headed the special task force (STF) against forest brigand Veerappan who was gunned down in October 2004.

Vijay Kumar was serving as director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, till his new appointment.

He replaces Vikram Srivastava, who faced criticism after the April 6 massacre of 75 CRPF personnel and a state police constable in Chhattisgarh at the hands of Maoists.

Asked how he planned to tackle Maoist violence, in which a large number of CRPF personnel have been killed recently, Vijay Kumar said: “I will make a policy statement only after joining. But to tackle any challenge, I will work as a team with my colleagues, as I did all through my career.”

Security experts view Vijay Kumar’s appointment as a move by the home ministry to streamline the anti-Maoist campaign in which the CRPF is playing a key role. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had mentioned several times left-wing extremism (Maoist activities) as the “gravest challenge to internal security of India.

Vijay Kumar has also served with the Special Protection Group team that provided security to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the Border Security Force, being posted as the inspector-general of police (Operations) in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s.

Vijay Kumar, who made jungle warfare training mandatory to IPS probationers during his tenure at the National Police Academy, is likely to introduce tactical training programmes for CRPF personnel, informed sources told IANS.