K. Vijay Kumar

K. Vijay Kumar spent more than four decades in policing and security, from district postings in Tamil Nadu to heading the CRPF. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of civil service, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

Early career

Vijay Kumar was born on 15 September 1952, the son of a police inspector ^[2]. He studied at St. Joseph’s College and Madras Christian College and joined the IPS in 1975 ^[2]. Selected for the IAS a year later, he chose to stay in the police ^[2].

He served as superintendent of police in Dharmapuri and Salem, and from 1985 to 1990 was among the first officers in the Special Protection Group, formed to protect Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ^[2]. From 1991 to 1996 he set up and led Tamil Nadu’s Special Security Group to protect Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa ^[2].

Kashmir and Veerappan

As an inspector general of the BSF in Kashmir from 1998 to 2001, he commanded about 50,000 personnel, including during the Kargil war ^[2]. He was Chennai’s police commissioner from 2001 to 2003 ^[2]. In 2003–04 he was put in charge of the Special Task Force, which brought to an end the twenty-year search for the forest brigand Veerappan ^[2]. He later wrote a book about it, Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand (2017) ^[2].

National roles

As director of the National Police Academy (2008–10), he set up a tactics wing after the 26/11 attacks ^[2]. He was Director General of the CRPF from 2010 to 2012 ^[2]. He then advised the Home Ministry on Left Wing Extremism and served as adviser to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (2018–20) ^[2].

He holds the President’s Police Medals for gallantry and for distinguished service ^[2].