IPS Harish Kumar Gupta is new DGP of Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: IPS officer Harish Kumar Gupta has been appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) for Andhra Pradesh, with full additional charge, as the current DGP, Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, is set to retire.

Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, a 1989 batch IPS officer, was appointed as the Head of the Police Force (HoPF) on June 20, 2024, after the TDP-led NDA government took charge. He also served as the Commissioner of the Public Transport Department and the Ex-Officio Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC. He will be relieved of his duties, effective January 31, 2025, upon his retirement from service after reaching the age of superannuation.

Tirumala Rao on retirement on superannuation on January 31, is re-employed as Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, for a period of one year from February 1 onwards.

Harish Kumar Gupta, currently serving as the Director General of Vigilance and Enforcement & Ex-Officio Principal Secretary to the Government, will assume full additional charge of the post. Notably, he has only seven months of service remaining before his retirement. However, sources indicate that his tenure could be extended by two years due to a lack of suitable officers for the position.

Harish Kumar Gupta’s career, spanning over three decades, began in the 1990s in undivided Andhra Pradesh. After the state's bifurcation in 2014, he was retained in the residuary Andhra Pradesh.

He has held several key positions, rising through the ranks of the Indian Police Service. By the end of 1999, he moved to Hyderabad, where he assumed the position of Commandant of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police 1st Battalion in Yousufguda. In mid-2002, he transitioned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Hyderabad.

During the 2013 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election, Gupta served as a Special Observer for the Election Commission of India in the Ampati Assembly constituency in Meghalaya.

In 2024, following the Election Commission of India's directives, he was appointed as the Head of the Police Force of the Andhra Pradesh Police. His short-term appointment as Director General of Police (HoPF) came at a crucial juncture, as Andhra Pradesh simultaneously held the 2024 Indian General Election and the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election on May 13, 2024.