The race to lead the state law enforcement agency has become crucial in Tamil Nadu as the state has been inching closer towards the retirement of incumbent Director-General of Police JK Tripathy. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is all set to shortlist the police officers to succeed Tripathy as the new DGP of Tamil Nadu. 

According to reports, JK Tripathy is scheduled to retire on June 30 and the UPSC will meet on June 28 to select the final panel for the Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police post. The names of seven DGP rank officers of the Tamil Nadu cadre compiled from the 1987 to 1989 IPS batches were already sent to the UPSC for shortlisting. The reports say that however, the UPSC has directed the Tamil Nadu state government to send a revised list to the commission. 

Based on the direction, a list of nine ADGP level officers of the 1990 and 1991 IPS batches was forwarded to the UPSC. As the selection holds more significance, the race gets tighter between the contenders, and we can expect that the final result on who has won in succeeding Tripathy would be declared by next week. With the list of officers received from the state government, the UPSC will shortlist three to five names to be considered for the post of the DGP and the concerned state government can pick one officer from the final list of three or five officers finalized by the UPSC.  

According to reports, the selection process of the UPSC is based on certain procedures and as per the Tamil Nadu Police Establishment Act, the state government can insist on three to five names and the government will be selecting any one of the officers from the final list provided by the UPSC and the selected officer will take office as the new Director-General of Police of Tamil Nadu. 

Currently, C. Sylendra Babu is the senior most IPS officer in the state. Babu is a familiar name in Tamil Nadu as apart from his service in the police department, he has also been close to the young generation and motivating them in their careers. He has held several high-profile posts and he is the 1987 batch IPS officer. Sylendra Babu is currently serving as the DGP of the Railways.

Karan Singha is the second senior-most IPS officer in the state and he is also from the same 1987 batch. The race is between Sylendra Babu and Karan Singha and they are not alone in the competition as the state government has already forwarded a list of nine ADGP level officers of the 1990 and 1991 IPS batches to the UPSC. 

These nine officers are - Shankar Jiwal (current Chennai police commissioner), AK Viswanathan (former Chennai police commissioner), Abash Kumar, TK Ravichandran, and Seema Agarwal of the 1990 batch. The officers from the 1991 batch include Amaresh Pujari, M. Ravi, Karuna Sagar, and Jayanth Murali. The reports say that these officers have the qualifying service of 30 years in the Indian Police Service and they are serving as DGP's and ADGP's in the Tamil Nadu police.