Chennai, June 4:
Senior IPS officer Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal on Wednesday assumed charge as the Director General of Police (DGP) and Head of Police Force (HoPF) of Tamil Nadu at the State Police Headquarters.
Addressing the media after taking charge, he thanked Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for the opportunity and said the police force would focus on maintaining law and order, controlling drug-related crimes, and taking strict action against crimes against women and cybercrime.
He also appealed to the public to extend cooperation to the police in maintaining peace and public order across the State.
Aggarwal, a 1994-batch IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, was repatriated from the Border Security Force (BSF), where he served as Special Director General and also held additional charge of the Eastern Command in Kolkata.
His appointment comes after the state remained without a full-time DGP/HoPF for over nine months following the retirement of DGP Shankar Jiwal in August 2025. During the interim period, G Venkataraman served in an in-charge capacity, while Sandeep Rai Rathore was later appointed by the Election Commission of India during the election period.
Earlier, the UPSC had cleared a panel of three officers—Rajeev Kumar, Sandeep Rai Rathore, and Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal—for the top police post in Tamil Nadu. Following the transition, Rathore has been moved to head the Prisons and Correctional Services Department.
The new DGP is expected to prioritise strengthening policing systems across key focus areas including narcotics control, women’s safety, and cybercrime enforcement.