IPS officer of Veerappan encounter fame quits as MHA security adviser

New Delhi, October 15

Decorated IPS officer of 1975-batch K Vijay Kumar, who was credited with eliminating sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, has resigned as the senior security adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) citing personal reasons.

Officials in the MHA said Kumar had vacated his accommodation in the national capital and relocated to Chennai. The officials said Kumar, in his resignation letter, expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, MHA officials and the chiefs of police organisations across the country for extending cooperation throughout his tenure.

Kumar was mostly advising the government on issues of left-wing extremism and security related matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir. The IPS officer was appointed as the senior security officer of the MHA after his superannuation from service in 2012 as the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

He served as the adviser to the J&K Governor before being re-appointed as the senior security adviser in the MHA in 2019.

Kumar has also served as the chief of the Special Task Force (STF), Tamil Nadu, which was given the job of hunting down Veerappan. The dacoit was killed in 2004 in a meticulously planned “Operation Cocoon” led by Kumar in Tamil Nadu.