Kathmandu, November 12
The government transferred Nepal Police Inspector General (IGP) Dan Bahadur Karki to the position of the Prime Minister’s special security adviser.
An emergency Cabinet meeting on November 4 not only created a new post of security adviser and transferred Karki but also decided to appoint AIG Dr Manoj Kumar KC as the 34th IGP.
Thirty years after the Achyut Krishna Kharel controversy, the government has once again created a position that did not previously exist to facilitate the transfer of an incumbent IGP. Security experts have viewed the move as a sign of political interference in Nepal Police after three decades.
With KC’s appointment as IGP, the post of AIG has fallen vacant in Nepal Police. KC had been heading the Crime Investigation Department, which is now being led by DIG Om Rana. This means a department normally headed by an AIG is currently being run by a DIG.
Another five AIG positions will become vacant on December 20, as five senior officers are set to retire upon completing their 30-year service period.
Under the Nepal Police Regulations, police personnel must serve 30 years. The five AIGs retiring on December 20 are Siddhi Bikram Shah of the Provincial Coordination Department, Uma Chaturvedi of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Sushil Singh Rathour of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office in Ranipokhari, Himalaya Kumar Shrestha of the Operations Department and Dambar BK of the Administration Department.
Nepal Police has nine sanctioned AIG positions, including one technical post.
With one position already vacant, only two AIGs—Rajan Adhikari and Ishwar Karki—will remain after five officers retire on December 20.
This means the police administration would need to promote only one officer if it conducts promotions immediately. However, with five more positions set to become vacant in a month, the government could promote six officers at once.
DIGs Bhupendra Khatri, Sanuram Bhattarai, Om Adhikari, Shekhar Khanal, Abhinayaran Kafle and Bishwo Adhikari are among those competing for promotion to AIG.
DIGs Govinda Thapaliya, Dinesh Kumar Acharya, Arun Paudel and Rajendra Prasad Bhatt, who belong to an earlier batch, are also in the race.
If Khatri, Bhattarai, Adhikari and Khanal, who belong to the 112th batch of police inspectors, are promoted to AIG, a possible line of succession for the IGP position after March 30, 2028, will also begin to take shape.
Current IGP Dr KC is due to retire on March 30, 2028, upon completing his 30-year service period.
Consequently, the current AIG promotion process will have significant implications for determining who succeeds him as IGP. This is one of the reasons the promotions have attracted considerable attention.
Similarly, three DIGs are also set to retire on December 20 after completing their 30-year service period. They are Om Rana, Dilip Nath Deuba and Surendra Gurung, who were recruited by the National Investigation Department on December 20, 1996, before being transferred to Nepal Police.
Their retirement will also leave three DIG positions vacant. With six officers potentially being promoted to AIG and three DIGs retiring, nine DIG positions will become vacant after December 20.
