One of the senior police officers indicted by Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Committee’s report on the 2018 Thoothukudi shootings has been promoted to Director General of Police (DGP). Shailesh Kumar Yadav, who was serving as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing, will now head it.  

Shailesh was serving as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the south zone during the shootings at the protest staged by Thoothukudi people against the functioning of Sterlite Copper. Thirteen people were killed in the police shootout and around a hundred people were injured in the violence. Few weeks after the shooting, he was transferred to Chennai and posted as the IGP of the Armed Forces. Subsequently, Shailesh was promoted to ADGP. 

The Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commitee’s report was tabled in Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2022 and had called for action against 27 police officers including Shailesh, Deputy IGP Kapil Kumar Saratkar, SP P Mahendran, Deputy SP Lingathirumaran, and some inspectors and sub-inspectors. 

One year after the report was published, the Madras High Court asked for a status report on the action recommended against the police officers. The state government responded saying that departmental action has been initiated against 21 police officers. Meanwhile, the state said that Shailesh Kumar, Kapil Kumar and Mahendran were still “under examination.”