K.
Vijay Kumar
K Vijay Kumar, IPS (born 15 September 1952), is a retired
IPS officer. He was the chief of the Special Task Force of
Tamil Nadu that was involved in the death of the
Veerappan during Operation Cocoon of 2004. He had also
been the senior advisor to Home Ministry for the Left
Wing Extremism areas. He served as the Advisor to the
Governor of Jammu and Kashmir[1] with Home, Forest,
Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education,
Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil
Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios.[2] Currently
he has joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry
of Home Affairs in December 2018.
Early life
Vijay Kumar grew up in Tamil Nadu with five other siblings.
His father M. Krishnan Nair was a retired police officer.[3]
He has bachelor's and master's degrees in law (BL and
ML) from Madras University and an MBA from Indira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). In 2010, he also
earned his master's degree in
K Vijay Kumar
business law at National Law
School of India University,
Bangalore.[4]
Born Krishnan
K Vijay Kumar
Vijay
Career Kumar
15
Vijay Kumar joined the Indian Police September
Service on 10 November 1975. He 1952
served as Assistant superintendent
Alma mater Madras
in Pattukkottai, Trichy and Christian
Sembiam. As Superintendent of College
Police, he served in Dharmapuri Police career
from 1982 to 1983 and Salem from
Country India
1983 to 1985. He assisted Walter
Department Indian
Devaram during this tenure. He
Police
served from 1985 to 1990 in the
Service
Elite Special Protection Group
Service years 1975
(SPG) with former Prime Minister
-
Rajiv Gandhi. In 1990, he was
2012
posted as the SP of Dindigul
Status Retired
district followed by Vellore district
in 1991. . In 1991 he along with
Sanjay Arora went on to form the Rank
Special Security Group (SSG) to Director
provide security to Former Chief General
Minister J. Jayalalithaa. In 1997 he of Police
was posted as the first Inspector Awards President’s
General of Police for the South Police Medal
for Gallantry
Zone of Tamil Nadu after having
President’s
handled the caste clashes in the
Police Medal
southern districts. He served from
for
1998 to 2000 as the Inspector
Distinguished
General, Border Security Force Service
(BSF) Srinagar during the peak of Police
militancy. He also served as IG Medal for
(Operations), BSF before being Meritorious
recalled to the state to head the Service
Counter
operations to hunt the forest
Insurgency
brigand Veerapan. In December
Medal
2001, he was appointed
Jammu &
Commissioner of Police for
Kashmir
Chennai city. The highlight of his Medal
career came was when he headed
Other work Senior
the task force operation, Operation Securit
Cocoon in which Veerappan was Advise
killed in October 2004.[5] in
Ministr
In 2008, Vijay Kumar was chosen to of Hom
head the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Affairs
National Police Academy in (India)
Hyderabad.[6][7] He served as the Advise
to
Director-general of Central Reserve
Govern
Police Force (CRPF) from 2010 to
of
2012. In December 2012, the Union
Jammu
government appointed him as
and
Senior Security Adviser in Ministry Kashm
of Home Affairs in Government of
India.[8]
A 1975-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Vijay
Kumar had earlier served in the Kashmir Valley as
Inspector General of BSF 1998-2001 when the border
guarding force was actively involved in the counter-
militancy operations. Vijay Kumar was shot to fame when
he headed the Special Task Force (STF) for a long-time
and strategised operations that culminated in the
elimination of the dreaded sandalwood smuggler
Veerappan in October 2004. He was appointed as Director
General of the world's largest paramilitary force—the
CRPF—after naxals killed 75 personnel in Dantewada in
2010.
In June 2018, Vijay Kumar was appointed as adviser to
Governor Vohra, along with Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer
BVR Subrahmanyam. The names of advisers were cleared
by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Government of India
after the state was put under the Governor's rule.[9] In Dec
2019, he was appointed as senior security adviser in the
Ministry of Home Affairs, where he'll consult on the
security-related matters of Union Territory of JK [Jammu
and Kashmir] and left wing extremism-affected states.[10]
Awards and recognitions
During his 37 years of service he has been awarded with
Jammu & Kashmir Medal, Counter Insurgency Medal,
Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1993, President’s
Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 1999 and
President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on 58th
Independence Day in 2005 (for his role in catching
Veerappan).[11]
In popular culture
In 2013, Kannada film Attahasa based on the life and
death of Veerappan, the role of Vijay Kumar was played
by Arjun Sarja, and in 2016 the role was essayed by K. S.
Sridhar in Killing Veerappan.
Book
His book Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand (ISBN 978-81-
291-4530-7) gives an account of the rise and fall of
Veerappan. The last section details about the Operation
Cocoon.
References
1. PTI (6 December 2019). "K Vijay Kumar is senior security
advisor in Union Home Ministry" (https://www.thehindubusin
essline.com/news/national/k-vijay-kumar-is-senior-security-
advisor-in-union-home-ministry/article30207884.ece) .
@businessline. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
2. "Present Advisors to Governor" (http://jammukashmir.nic.in/l
eftMenu/AdviserToGovnment.aspx) . Government of Jammu
and Kashmir. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
3. "K Vijay Kumar IPS - the Inspiring IPS Officer" (https://byjus.c
om/free-ias-prep/super-cop-k-vijay-kumar-ips/) .
4. The Times Of India Bangalore; 6 September 2010; Education
Times; Page: 32 ‘Great to be a student again’
5. "Veerappan shot dead" (https://web.archive.org/web/20041
020061134/http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/19/stories/200
4101916450100.htm) . The Hindu. 18 October 2004.
Archived from the original (http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/
19/stories/2004101916450100.htm) on 20 October 2004.
Retrieved 30 September 2013.
6. "Vijay Kumar chosen to head National Police Academy" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20081201173710/http://www.hind
u.com/2008/12/01/stories/2008120159840700.htm) . The
Hindu. 1 December 2008. Archived from the original (http://
www.hindu.com/2008/12/01/stories/2008120159840700.h
tm) on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
7. "Thiru K Vijay Kumar IPS, the Chief of the STF called on the
Hon'ble Chief Minister at Secretariat" (http://www.tn.gov.in/p
ressrelease/archives/pr2004/pr211004/pr211004.htm) .
Government of Tamil Nadu. 21 October 2004. Retrieved
24 May 2010.
8. "Vijay Kumar appointed Senior Security Adviser in Home
Ministry" (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vijay-ku
mar-appointed-senior-security-adviser-in-home-ministry/arti
cle4188982.ece) . The Hindu. 12 December 2012. Retrieved
30 September 2013.
9. "Governor NN Vohra takes charge of Jammu and Kashmir;
former top cop Vijay Kumar made his adviser" (https://www.
firstpost.com/india/governor-nn-vohra-takes-charge-of-jamm
u-and-kashmir-former-top-cop-vijay-kumar-made-his-adviser-
4555571.html) . The News Minute. 20 June 2018.
10. Scroll Staff. "Former IPS officer K Vijay Kumar appointed
senior security adviser in home ministry" (https://scroll.in/lat
est/945994/former-ips-officer-k-vijay-kumar-appointed-seni
or-security-adviser-in-home-ministry) . Scroll.in. Retrieved
16 February 2022.
11. "K Vijay Kumar" (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/litfest/l
itfest-2017/speakers/k-vijay-kumar/articleshow/61103820.c
ms) . The Times of India. 3 November 2017. Retrieved
6 July 2020.
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