Hyderabad: Intelligence specialist B. Shivadhar Reddy, a 1994-batch IPS officer, has been appointed the new director general of police Telangana by the Revanth Reddy government, while V.C. Sajjanar, famous as “the encounter cop”, is the new Hyderabad police commissioner.
Reddy is currently the DGP (intelligence), the Telangana police wing he has been heading since the Congress government came in December 2023.
The officer, hailing from a village near Hyderabad, had served as the intelligence chief during K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s tenure too. In fact, he is one of the longest serving officers in the critical aspect of law and order, having served as SP, DIG in Special Intelligence (to counter Maoism), IG, Additional DGP and now DGP.
Shivadhar Reddy, who is a graduate in law from the Osmania University, practiced as an advocate for some time, before joining the IPS in 1994.
Some of the other key posts he held were chief of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Commissioner, Visakhapatnam in united Andhra Pradesh. He had also served in Kosovo as part of the UN peace keeping mission.
In 2007, he was sent as DCP (South Hyderabad), comprising the communally sensitive old city areas, in the aftermath of the Mecca masjid blasts and the police firing during protests, to bring the situation back to normal and maintain law and order.
Reddy told ThePrint he would follow “visible policing” as his policy and approach to uphold the law and order.
“While we are aided by technology, AI, etc., tools, I believe visible policing is the most essential aspect of preserving law and order. We will take all measures to expand, improve on that aspect.”
Reddy’s appointment letter issued Friday, says he is posted as DGP (Coordination) and that he is also placed in full additional charge of the DGP (Head of Police Force) post. He will take over from the incumbent Dr Jitender retiring from service on superannuation on 1 October.
Sajjanar, Hyderabad commissioner
The Telangana government effected a major reshuffle in the state police force through orders issued Friday, transferring 23 IPS officers, including V.C Sajjanar, who has now been made the police commissioner of the state capital, relieving C.V. Anand from the post.
Sajjanar, a 1996-batch officer famous as “the encounter cop”, is at present the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation.
Sajjanar attained nationwide fame five years back, when the Cyberabad personnel shot down the four accused in the ghastly rape-murder case of a veterinarian on Bengaluru-Hyderabad national highway.
The rape and murder case of the 26-year-old veterinarian on the outskirts of Hyderabad in November 2019, had sent shockwaves across the country. She was hailed as Disha and the masses called for justice for her.
After the “encounter killing of the four accused”, within a week of the rape and muder case, Sajjanar, the then Cyberabad commissioner, was hailed as ‘Singham’ and ‘Saaho’ on social media, with users invoking movie parallels to celebrate the encounter as well as the policemen.
It was on Sajjanar’s watch in 2008 that three suspects in an acid attack in Warangal, also in Telangana, were killed in an encounter similar to the one at Hyderabad..
In September 2021, the IPS officer, hailing from Karnataka, was transferred and posted as the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) where he continued to serve till now. He is of Additional DGP rank.
Sajjanar, a specialist in anti-Maoists operations, intelligence, and other niche cop duties, continuation in a “non-police” job for four years has been an intriguing aspect in the bureaucratic and police circles. He continued in the post even after the Congress government took over from the BRS two years back.
As MD TGSRTC, Sajjanar is the officer executing the Congress government’s flagship welfare guarantee, the Mahalakshmi or the free bus travel for women scheme in implementation across the state since December 2023.
Apart from his official duties, Sajjanar is known to involve himself in various initiatives, online and offline campaigns for the benefit, betterment of the society. His one such campaign is against the betting apps, the use of which reportedly drove several youths to end their lives over financial losses.
C.V. Anand, IPS (1991), the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City is transferred and posted as Special Chief Secretary in the home department.
Nagi Reddy, IPS (1997), Director General, Telangana Disaster Response & Fire Services, is transferred and posted as Managing Director, Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, Hyderabad in place of Sajjanar.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)