Officiating U.P. DGP shifts to his official residence; bungalow gets occupant after 13 months

LUCKNOW One of the most VVIP bungalows in the city — 1-Tilak Marg — got an occupant after a gap of nearly 13 months as U.P’s new officiating Director General of Police (DGP) shifted to the official residence a few days ago. The bungalow, meant for the state’s DGP, had been lying vacant as the previous two officiating DGPs never shifted to the official residence.

“The new officiating U.P. Police DGP Vijaya Kumar shifted to the official residence a few days ago and his nameplate was fixed at its entrance on Thursday. Kumar is likely to remain the U.P. DGP and occupy this bungalow till his superannuation at the end of January 2024 or till the state government decides to bring in a regular DGP,” said a senior police official privy to the development.

He said Kumar’s nameplate was initially put up at the bungalow’s main entrance in two languages — Hindi and Urdu — on Wednesday but it was replaced within 24 hours and another nameplate with his name written on it in Hindi was put up on Thursday.

Other than being the officiating DGP, Kumar, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, also holds the charge of Director General of CB-CID and Director Vigilance. He is the third consecutive officiating DGP since the removal of U.P-cadre senior most 1987-batch IPS officer, Mukul Goel, as the U.P. DGP on May 11, 2022. Goel’s removal was ordered by the state government much prior to his superannuation in February 2024 following allegations of inaction and his alleged lack of interest in work.

Goel, who was the last regular U.P. DGP, is presently posted as DG Civil Defence after being removed from the DGP post and his superannuation is at the end of February 2024. The two previous officiating DGPs — RK Vishwakarma and DS Chauhan — had not shifted to the DGP’s residence at 1-Tilak Marg during their stints of one month and 11 months respectively. Vishwakarma superannuated on May 31. Subsequently, Kumar was made the third consecutive officiating DGP.

Before Vishwakarma, DS Chauhan remained the officiating DGP for around 11 months between May 12, 2022, and April 30, 2023. Unlike his predecessors, Kumar decided to shift into the DGP’s bungalow and operate from there instead of sitting in his office on the ninth floor of U.P. Police headquarters at the Signature Building near Shaheed Path in Arjunganj on Sultanpur Road.