<b>BS People: </b>K Vijay Kumar

Top cop

There’s a change of guard at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). K Vijay Kumar is scheduled to take charge as director-general today. He shot to fame for leading the special task force that tracked down and killed dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in 2004.

The 58-year-old Kumar was selected for the Indian Administrative Service, but instead joined the Indian Police Service in 1975. His early inspiration: father Krishnan Nair, who was also a police officer. The Tamil Nadu cadre officer is deeply religious, and even shaved his head on completion of the Veerappan mission.

During his early years on the force, Kumar was instrumental in curbing Maoist activities in Tamil Nadu. Following the police action in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the state has since been untouched by Maoist violence. Kumar’s tenure as the Chennai police commissioner is also remembered for the crackdown on organised crime between 2001 and 2003.

In the course of a long and illustrious career, Kumar has been part of the elite Special Protection Group, headed the operations wing of the Border Security Force in J&K and was director of the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, from where he joins the CRPF. A great fitness enthusiast, Kumar certainly has the stamina to head the country’s largest paramilitary force.