Bengaluru, 20 May

A ceremonial farewell parade will be held in the city for Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Alok Mohan, who is set to retire from service on Wednesday.

The parade will be held at 8am at the KSRP parade grounds in Koramangala, with Mohan receiving the guard of honour. The event will be conducted under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner of Police, West Division, S Girish.

The government has extended the tenure of Mohan, who took charge as DG&IGP after Praveen Sood was appointed Director of the CBI, till 21 May. Now, the government has to announce his successor.

Senior IPS officers Prashanth Kumar Thakur and Dr MA Saleem are said to be the frontrunners. Thakur, a 1992-batch officer with seniority over Saleem, also has political lineage as he is a relative of former Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur. Saleem, a 1993-batch officer and a native Kannadiga, reportedly enjoys the state government’s favour.

Another potential contender, Dr K Ramachandra Rao, has been ruled out of the race after being sent on forced leave due to a controversy involving his daughter in a gold smuggling case.

If chosen, Saleem will be the first Kannadiga police chief since Shankar Bidari.