Senior IPS officer G. Venkatraman appointed as Tamil Nadu DGP in-charge

Senior IPS officer and Director-General of Police (Administration) G. Venkatraman has been posted as in-charge of Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP)/Head of Police Force (HoPF).

The State government, on Sunday (August 31, 2025), issued orders making him in-charge of the top post following the retirement of incumbent DGP Shankar Jiwal who has been posted as the Chairman of Fire Commission.

Mr. Venkatraman, a 1994-batch IPS officer, will hold office as DGP/HoPF till a regular officer is appointed in compliance with the Supreme Court guideline in the Prakash Singh case. 

Mr. Venkatraman has served in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) as Superintendent of Police and Joint Director respectively. 

In June 2021, he was posted as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to expedite the implementation of e-governance at the State Secretariat. While holding the post of ADGP, Cyber Crime, he played a vital role in the implementation of e-governance at the police headquarters. 

While serving as Inspector-General of Police, Administration, Mr. Venkatraman formed a team of police officers who had expertise in IT applications and brought about paperless file movement in the police headquarters. 

Barring court affidavits and tender finalisation orders wherein the physical signatures of officers were required, all other files were transacted on e-office platform.

Proposal sent to UPSC

Meanwhile, official sources said the Tamil Nadu government has sent a list of eight DGP-rank officers to the UPSC for empanelment. Once the top three names are shortlisted and returned to the State, a regular DGP/HoPF would be appointed immediately. 

This is the first time in recent years the State is not following the Supreme Court ruling in the appointment of DGP/HoPF. During the AIADMK regime, K. Ramanujam was the first officer to get the benefit of the fixed two-year tenure in the Prakash Singh case in 2018.

Thereafter in both the AIADMK and DMK governments DGP/HoPFs were appointed through – what the apex court said – “a merit-based transparent process”. This year the delay in sending the proposal comprising the list of qualifying DGP-rank officers to the UPSC was the reason why a regular police chief could not be appointed in time, a senior police officer said.