K Vijay Kumar | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | Krishnan Vijay Kumar (1952-09-15)15 September 1952 (age 72) |
| Alma mater | Madras Christian College |
| Police career | |
| Country | India |
| Department | Indian Police Service |
| Service years | 1975 - 2012 |
| Status | Retired |
| Rank |  Director General of Police |
| Awards |  President’s Police Medal for Gallantry President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service Police Medal for Meritorious ServiceCounter Insurgency Medal Jammu & Kashmir Medal |
| Other work |
|
K Vijay KumarPMGGMIPS (born 15 September 1952), is a retiredIPS officer. He was the chief of theSpecial Task Force ofTamil Nadu that was involved in the death of theVeerappan duringOperation Cocoon of 2004. He had also been the senior advisor to Home Ministry for the Left Wing Extremism areas. He served as the Advisor to theGovernor of Jammu and Kashmir[1] with Home, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios.[2] Currently he has joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2018.
Vijay Kumar grew up in Tamil Nadu with six other siblings. His father M. Krishnan Nair was a retired police officer.[citation needed] He has bachelor's and master's degrees in law (BL and ML) fromMadras University and an MBA fromIndira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). In 2010, he also earned his master's degree in business law atNational Law School of India University,Bangalore.[3]
Vijay Kumar joined theIndian Police Service on 10 November 1975. He served asAssistant superintendent inPattukkottai,Trichy and Sembiam. AsSuperintendent of Police, he served inDharmapuri from 1982 to 1983 and Salem from 1983 to 1985. He assistedWalter Devaram during this tenure. He served from 1985 to 1990 in the EliteSpecial Protection Group (SPG) with former Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi. In 1990, he was posted as the SP ofDindigul district followed byVellore district in 1991. In 1991 he along withSanjay Arora went on to form the Special Security Group (SSG) to provide security to Former Chief MinisterJ. Jayalalithaa. In 1997 he was posted as the firstInspector General of Police for the South Zone of Tamil Nadu after having handled the caste clashes in the southern districts. He served from 1998 to 2000 as the Inspector General,Border Security Force (BSF) Srinagar during the peak of militancy. He also served as IG (Operations), BSF before being recalled to the state to head the operations to hunt the forest brigand Veerapan. In December 2001, he was appointedCommissioner of Police forChennai city. The highlight of his career came was when he headed the task force operation,Operation Cocoon in whichVeerappan was killed in October 2004.[4]
In 2008, Vijay Kumar was chosen to head theSardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy inHyderabad.[5][6] He served as the Director-general ofCentral Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from 2010 to 2012. In December 2012, the Union government appointed him as Senior Security Adviser inMinistry of Home Affairs inGovernment of India.[7]
A 1975-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Vijay Kumar had earlier served in the Kashmir Valley as Inspector General of BSF 1998-2001 when the border guarding force was actively involved in the counter-militancy operations. Vijay Kumar was shot to fame when he headed the Special Task Force (STF) for a long-time and strategised operations that culminated in the elimination of the dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in October 2004. He was appointed as Director General of the world's largest paramilitary force—the CRPF—after naxals killed 75 personnel in Dantewada in 2010.[citation needed]
In June 2018, Vijay Kumar was appointed as adviser to Governor Vohra, along with Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officerBVR Subrahmanyam. The names of advisers were cleared by theMinistry of Home Affairs inGovernment of India after the state was put under the Governor's rule.[8] In December 2019, he was appointed as senior security adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where he'll consult on the security-related matters ofUnion Territory of JK [Jammu and Kashmir] andleft wing extremism-affected states.[9]
During his 37 years of service he has been awarded with Jammu & Kashmir Medal, Counter Insurgency Medal, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1993,President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 1999 andPresident’s Police Medal for Gallantry on 58thIndependence Day in 2005 (for his role in catchingVeerappan).[10]
In 2013, Kannada filmAttahasa based on the life and death of Veerappan, the role of Vijay Kumar was played byArjun Sarja, and in 2016 the role was essayed by K. S. Sridhar inKilling Veerappan.[citation needed]
His bookVeerappan: Chasing the Brigand (ISBN 978-81-291-4530-7) gives an account of the rise and fall ofVeerappan. The last section details about theOperation Cocoon.[citation needed]