VIJAY Kumar, a 1997-batch Indian Police Service officer, on Wednesday took over as the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) after serving as the Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) for nearly four years. The post of ADGP (Law and Order) has been created for a period of two years by making special provisions in the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre rules. Senior IPS officer V K Birdhi was appointed as the Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) on Tuesday, replacing Kumar who had held the post from December 2019 after his premature repatriation from central deputation, officials said.

 

His posting in Kashmir came shortly after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J&K into UTs of J&K and Ladakh in August 2019. As the head of the Kashmir Police, Kumar is credited with bringing massive transformation in the overall security situation in the Valley by putting an end to separatist-sponsored street violence and strike culture which had become the order of the day in the militancy-hit region over the past three decades.