Chennai, Nov 19: In a sudden move, Chennai Police Commissioner K Vijayakumar was today removed from the post and sent as the chief of the Special Task Force formed to nab the forest brigand Veerappan. R Natraj, at present the STF chief, will be the new city police chief and the fourth Commissioner after AIADMK government assumed power in may 2001.
The removal of Vijayakumar comes in the backdrop of the demand of backward Nadar associations angered over the killing of Venkatesa Pannaiyar, said to be a don belonging to the community. Nadars command a dominant political influence in the southern districts. The government has set up a probe panel to go into the killing of Pannaiyar under retired high court judge A Raman, whose son-in-law was shot the day after his appointment in Srirangam near Tiruchirapally. Later, he died.
The Editor-in-Chief of 'The Hindu' daily, N Ram, had held Vijayakumar morally responsible for the searches in his office on Nov 07 night, after the assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu issued arrest warrants against five Hindu senior journalists, who were awarded 15 day's simple imprisonment by the state assembly for breach of privilege.
Vijayakumar, who was on deputation with border security force, was brought back to the state when Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister in May 2001.
During Vijayakumar's tenure as police chief, the city witnessed a number of police encounters with gangsters, some of whom were killed in shoot-outs.
Also during his tenure, he had intensified raids against prostitution in the city, leading to many a small screen actresses were arrested.
Bureau Report