UP gets acting DGP for fourth consecutive term, Akhilesh attacks government

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday appointed Director General, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, as the acting director general of police prompting Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to attack the government.

Yadav asked the government whether acting DGP is being appointed every time because of a "tussle" between Delhi and Lucknow or because of a "nexus" between the government and the criminals.

Kumar will replace incumbent acting DGP Vijay Kumar who is retiring on Wednesday.

"Prashant Kumar has been appointed as acting DGP of Uttar Pradesh," a senior official told PTI.

A 1990 batch IPS officer, Kumar belongs to Bihar.

This is the fourth consecutive time that UP has got an acting police chief. No full-time DGP has been appointed after the removal of Mukul Goel on May 11, 2022 for "not taking interest in departmental work and inefficiency".

Goel, a 1987 batch IPS officer, is currently posted as DG of the civil defence department and is set to retire next month.

After Goel, D S Chauhan took over as the acting DGP and retired in April 2023. Later, R K Vishwakarma served as the acting DGP for over a month before Vijay Kumar was appointed to the post on May 31, 2023.

Yadav, in a post on X, said, "It seems that UP is once again going to get an acting DGP. The public is asking whether the game of making acting DGP is happening every time because of the tussle between Delhi and Lucknow or because of the nexus between the government and the criminals."

लगता है एक बार फिर उप्र को कार्यवाहक डीजीपी मिलनेवाला है। जनता पूछ रही है कि हर बार कार्यवाहक डीजीपी बनाने का खेल दिल्ली-लखनऊ के झगड़े की वजह से हो रहा है या फिर अपराधियों के संग सत्ता की साँठगाँठ के कारण।

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 31, 2024