On June 19th, following a circular issued by Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad (1987-batch IAS officer), the government of Andhra Pradesh appointed Mr. Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao (1989-batch IPS officer) as the new state Director General of Police — Head of Police Force (DGP — HoPF) and successor to IPS Harish Kumar Gupta (1992-batch).
Officer Rao last served as the Commissioner for Public Transport Department and ex-officio vice-chairman and managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and had previously served as DGP (Railways), Vijayawada City Police Commissioner, ADGP of the State Crime Investigation Department (AP-CID) and Cyberabad police commissioner before bifurcation of the state. It is believed that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu appointed him for the apex designation, banking on his three decades of experience in the state’s police force.
During his stint as CID ADGP under the previous NDA government (2014-19), IPS Rao was entrusted to probe into the Agrigold multi-crore scam and was instrumental in arresting Agrigold chairman A Venkata Ramarao and others involved in the financial fraud.
