In A First, A Woman Officer, B Sandhya Is Shortlisted For The Post Of Kerala Police Chief

 Kerala fire force head B Sandhya has been shortlisted for the post of Kerala Police chief. This is the first time that a woman's name has been nominated for the position and if selected, she will be appointed as the Director-General of Police in charge of law and order of Kerala. The decision was taken at a committee meeting of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday.

B Sandhya is now one of the finalists being considered for the post of DGP in the state. The other two names recommended are Sudesh Kumar, director of vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, and safety commissioner Anil Kant, Mathrubhumi reported. However, Thachankary's name was later dropped from the race, leaving Sandhya and Kanth as the frontrunners.

Sandhya assumed the role of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Fire and Rescue Services Department earlier this year. She is known to have headed the Jisha murder case, which sent shock waves across Kerala, where a 30-year-old law student from Perumbavoor was found sexually assaulted and brutally killed at her home on April 28, 2016. The accused was received capital punishment by the court. B Sandhya had taken over as Chief of State Police Training in 2018. She was also part of the team that probed the actor abduction case involving superstar Dileep that rocked the state in 2017. Sandhya had won accolades for these two high-profile cases.

The IPS officer (1989 batch) is a PhD scholar from BITS Pilani. She started her career as the Director of Kerala Police Academy, with headquarters located at Ramavarmapuram in Thrissur. She is also a published author who has written novels, books for children and also research papers on Police science. She has published five poem collection and one novel on Ramayana in Malayalam. In fact, one of her recent poems had created a sort of political havoc in Kerala.

Feature Image Credit: The News Minute