Police Appointment: New SPG Chief: प्रसाद को SPG चीफ बनाने से चकित है पुलिस सेवा के अधिकारी..

HYDERABAD: The sudden appointment of 1981 batch AP cadre IPS officer Durga Prasad as the boss of the coveted Special Protection Group ( SPG) has set the cat among pigeons in the police ranks across the country.

This is largely due to the secrecy governing the appointment of the government official to a top job at the level of director general of police in the central police force, but also because the new incumbent holds the inspector general of police rank at the Centre. "Is the post of the official responsible for protecting the country's top guns including the Prime Minister is a less important job now? Is the post being downgraded?" asked senior cops. The last incumbent, 1976 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre A N Wanchoo laid down office over the weekend. He retired as director general though when appointed he was an additional director general. Sources aver that Durga Prasad's appointment was piloted by 1981 batch IAS officer of the AP cadre K Raju who is joint secretary of the UPA government's National Advisory Council and has access to the corridors of power. What clinched Durga Prasad's appointment was that he was once boss of the elite anti-Maoist force - the Greyhounds. However, sources said that the powers that be glossed over the fact that the official returned half way through an appointment as chief of Cobra, an elite anti-Maoist force proposed to be set up by CRPF for use in Chhattisgarh and other Maoist affected states. Usually, the Centre looks down at officials returning half way through the assignment. Before this appointment, Durga Prasad was in the doghouse being in charge of sports. The chief minister and other functionaries had no clue about the appointment being mulled in Delhi. "It is a coup of sorts more so as the cop was seen being close to Chandrababu Naidu. Though Naidu has nothing to do with the appointment, it is reminiscent of the old days when as chief minister of AP, he could get his proteges appointed to top positions at the Centre," a local analyst said. Durga Prasad's career took a hit since 2004 when the Congress came to power, precisely because he was perceived to be very close to major national opposition leader.