Lucknow: The third month of the year is coming to end and the search for the third Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh in 2015 is already on.
Thanks to the whims and fancies of the incumbent Samajwadi Party government in the process of the selection of the top cop in the state that the officers ranging from 1977 Indian Police Service (IPS) batch to 1983 are in the run and more surprisingly the officer being tipped for the post is from the junior most batch in the race i.e 1983.
Jagmohan Yadav, one of 14 Directors General (DGs) presently posted as DG, CB CID in Uttar Pradesh, is being considered as the front runner to the post of DGP by virtue of his proximity with the political family in the power in Uttar Pradesh.
In all at least four names have been doing rounds in the administrative circles for the post which included the senior most serving IPS officer in the state Suvrat Tripathi, and two 1982-batch officers Vijay Kumar Gupta and Pravin Singh currently posted as DG, recruitment board and DG, Fire Services respectively.
The present DGP of UP Arvind Kumar Jain will be retiring on March 31 leaving the post for new DGP on April 1,2015.
The appointment of Suvrat Tripathi, if selected for the coveted post will again invite curious view of the apex court which only recently had commented that the DGP should be given a long tenure.
No wonder, the state has seen as many as six DGPs in the last under three years since Akhilesh Yadav government came to power in the state. The tenure of A K Jain was of only two months while his predecessor Arun Kumar Gupta remained DGP only for one month from January 1 to 31 last.
In fact, on both the previous occasions when A K Gupta and A K Jain were appointed, the name of Jagmohan Yadav along with the names of Surya Kumar Shukla and Ranjan Dwivedi ,was in the air but government decided otherwise.
According to highly placed sources, if the government has to take note of the Supreme Court remark, given on the PIL filed by former UP DGP Prakash Singh for longer tenure to DGPs and the curb on frequent transfers of the officers, Jagmohan Yadav will be a winner because he has about two years of service left.
On the same ground Suvrat Tripathi may not be considered as he is to retire in July this year and the state will have to have fourth DGP in the same year, in case he is appointed.
 There are few officers of 1983 batch like Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, R N Singh and Gopal Gupta whose names are also pitched in for speculation but the dice is cast in the favour of Jagmohan,it is indicated.