ECI replaces Tamil Nadu DGP ahead of polls, appoints Sandeep Rai Rathore

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday appointed senior IPS officer Sandeep Rai Rathore as the new Director General of Police (DGP) and Head of Police Force (HoPF) of Tamil Nadu, replacing G Venkataraman ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Rathore, a 1992-batch IPS officer , was previously serving as DGP (Training) in Chennai . His appointment comes in the run-up to the April 23 Assembly elections , as part of the ECI’s mandate to ensure neutrality and impartiality in the law enforcement machinery during the electoral process.

Venkataraman had been serving as the in-charge DGP and HoPF since September 2025 , following the retirement of Shankar Jiwal . His replacement is understood to be a routine administrative reshuffle by the ECI , which often reassigns key officials in poll-bound states to maintain free and fair elections and prevent any perception of bias.

Alongside the top-level change, the ECI also ordered several other key transfers in the state police. Sanjay Kumar , previously Additional Director General of Police (Coastal Security Group), has been appointed Commissioner of Tambaram . Abhishek Dixit , who served as Inspector General of Police (Traffic and Road Safety, Chennai), has been posted as Commissioner of Madurai . Meanwhile, R V Ramya Bharati , earlier IGP (Crime, Chennai), has been appointed IGP West Zone, Coimbatore .

The reshuffle is part of a broader exercise by the ECI to ensure that administrative machinery remains independent and unbiased during the electoral process, a standard practice in poll-bound states.