K Vijay Kumar,

IPS IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus, ...

(born 15 September 1952), is a retired

officer. He was the chief of the Special Task Force of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

that was involved in the death of the

Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...

during Operation 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 the

Governor of Jammu and Kashmir The governor of Jammu and Kashmir was the head of the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir. When India became independent, Hari Singh was the Maharaja of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. Technically he remained so until 17 November 1952, al ...

with Home, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios. Currently he has joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2019.

Early life

Vijay Kumar grew up in Tamil Nadu with five other siblings. His father M. Krishnan Nair was a retired police officer. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in law (BL and ML) from

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

and an MBA from

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University, known as IGNOU, is a Central University located at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of 20& ...

(IGNOU). In 2010, he also earned his master's degree in business law at National Law School of India University,

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

K Vijay Kumar IPS Passing Out Parred SVPNPA

Career

Vijay Kumar joined the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (I ...

on 10 November 1975. He served as

Assistant superintendent Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held b ...

Pattukkottai Pattukkottai () is a major town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also important town in Delta districts and Commercial town of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Pudukkottai district Coastal areas. The town came to promin ...

Trichy Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

and Sembiam. As

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

, he served in

Dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a special grade town in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by spli ...

from 1982 to 1983 and Salem from 1983 to 1985. He assisted

Walter Devaram Walter Issac Devaramhttp://indiankanoon.org/doc/1968478/ (born 20 July 1939) is a retired Indian Police Service officer. He served as the Director General of Police for the State of Tamil Nadu. He was a former Army Officer before he sat for th ...

during this tenure. He served from 1985 to 1990 in the Elite

Special Protection Group The Special Protection Group (SPG) is an agency of the Government of India whose sole responsibility is protecting the Prime Minister of India and in some cases, his or her family. It was formed in 1988 by an Act of the Parliament of India. The ...

(SPG) with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 1990, he was posted as the SP of Dindigul district followed by

Vellore district Vellore district () is one of the 38 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. It is one of the eleven districts that form the north region of Tamil Nadu. Vellore city is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, the district had a popu ...

in 1991. . In 1991 he along with Sanjay Arora went on to form the Special Security Group (SSG) to provide security to Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. In 1997 he was posted as the first

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

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 The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

(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 appointed Commissioner of Police for

Chennai city Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. The highlight of his career came was when he headed the task force operation, Operation Cocoon in which

was killed in October 2004. In 2008, Vijay Kumar was chosen to head the

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the civil service training institution in India. The institute trains Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their dut ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

. He served as the Director-general of

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police F ...

(CRPF) from 2010 to 2012. In December 2012, the Union government appointed him as Senior Security Adviser in

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. 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. In June 2018, Vijay Kumar was appointed as adviser to Governor Vohra, along with Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam. The names of advisers were cleared by the

after the state was put under the Governor's rule. In Dec 2019, he was appointed as senior security adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where he'll consult on the security-related matters of Union Territory of JK ammu and Kashmir and left wing extremism-affected states.

Awards and recognitions

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 and President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on 58th Independence Day in 2005 (for his role in catching

In popular culture

In 2013, Kannada film ''

Attahasa ''Attahasa'' () is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language biographical film directed by A. M. R. Ramesh, based on the notorious forest brigand Veerappan. Kishore plays the role of Veerappan in the film, whilst featuring Arjun Sarja and Suresh Oberoi. Af ...

'' based on the life and death of Veerappan, the role of Vijay Kumar was played by

Arjun Sarja Srinivasa "Arjun" Sarja is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry, in addition to Kannada and Telugu languages as well. Referred to by the media and his fans as " Action King" for his roles i ...

, and in 2016 the role was essayed by K. S. Sridhar in

Killing Veerappan ''Killing Veerappan'' is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language biographical crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, who co-wrote the film with K. Balaji. The film is based on the events leading to Operation Cocoon to capture or kill Indian bandit Veer ...

Book

His book ''Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand'' () gives an account of the rise and fall of

. The last section details about the Operation Cocoon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, K. Vijay 1952 births Indian civil servants Indian police officers Living people Madras Christian College alumni People from Tamil Nadu St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni University of Madras alumni Advisor to Governor of Jammu and Kashmir