New Delhi: CRPF chief K Vijay Kumar today retired as the chief of the country's largest paramilitary force, even as his incumbent is yet to be announced.
Kumar, a 1975-batch Tamil Nadu cadre police officer, was made Director General of the force in October, 2010 in the aftermath of the deadly Dantewada naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh where Naxals killed 75 CRPF personnel.
Kumar handed over his charge to the Additional DG (headquarters) of the CRPF here as the Home Ministry is yet to appoint a new chief for the nearly 3-lakh strong force, the mainstay for anti-Maoist operations in Naxal-affected states of the country.
The Central Reserve Police Force has deployed 80 battalions (about 80,000 personnel) for anti-naxal operations and countering left wing extremism.
The new appointment order is expected next week, sources in the force said.
Kumar, who came to CRPF after heading National Police Academy in Hyderabad, is credited to have planned and eliminated dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in 2004 after he was made the chief of Tamil Nadu's Special Task Force.
During his tenure in CRPF, top Naxal commander Kishenji was killed by CRPF commandos in West Bengal last year.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 16:52