K Vijay Kumar, IPS is a retired IPS officer. He was the Chief of the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu that was involved in the death of the Veerappan during Operation Cocoon of 2004. He had also been the senior advisor to Home Ministry for the Left Wing Extremism areas. Currently he is the advisor to Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with Home, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios. He joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in december of 2019.
Early life
He was born in Idukki,Kerala. His father Mr. M. Krishnan Nair was a retired Police Officer. He has a bachelor's and master's in Law from Madras University; and an MBA from Indira Gandhi National Open University. In 2010, he also earned his Master in Business Law degree at National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
Career
Vijay Kumar joined the Indian Police Service on 10 November 1975. He served as Assistant superintendent in Pattukkottai, Trichy and Sembiam. As Superintendent of Police, he served in Dharmapuri from 1982 to 1983 and Salem from 1983 to 1985. He assisted Walter Devaram during this tenure. He Served from 1985 to 1990 in the Elite Special Protection Group with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In 1990 he was posted as the SP of Dindigul district followed by Vellore district in 1991. He dealt with the Bus conductors and drivers strike with a firm hand like a jolly good British officer. In 1991 he along with Sanjay Arora went on to form the Special Security Group to provide security to Former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. In 1997 he was posted as the first Inspector General of Policefor the South Zone of Tamil Nadu after having handled the caste clashes in the southern districts. He served from 1998 to 2000 as the Inspector General, Border Security Force Srinagar during the peak of militancy. He also served as IG, BSF before being recalled to the state to head the operations to hunt the forest brigand Veerapan. In December 2001 he was appointed Commissioner of Police for Chennai city. The highlight of his career came was when he headed the task force operation, Operation Cocoon in which Veerappan was killed in October 2004. In 2008, Vijay Kumar was chosen to head the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad. He served as the Director-general of Central Reserve Police Force from 2010 to 2012. In December 2012, the Union government appointed him as Senior Security Adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in Government of India. In June 2018, K Vijay Kumar, is appointed as adviser to Governor Vohra. Kumar's in Jammu & Kashmir along with Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam. K Vijay Kumar, a 1975-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre had earlier served in the Kashmir Valley as Inspector General of BSF 1998-2001 when the border guarding force was actively involved in the counter-militancy operations. Sixty-seven-year-old Vijay Kumar had shot to fame when he headed the Special Task Force for a long time and strategised operations that culminated in the elimination of the dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in October 2004. He was appointed as Director General of the world's largest paramilitary force—the CRPF—after naxals killed 75 personnel in Dantewada in 2010. The names of adviser was cleared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Government of India after the state was put under the Governor's rule.
In 2013, Kannada film Attahasa, also made as Vana Yuddham in Tamil, based on the life and death of Veerappan, the role of Vijay Kumar was played by Arjun Sarja, and in 2016 the role was essayed by K. S. Sridhar in Killing Veerappan.In Killing Veerappan Kannada Movie, the role of Vijay Kumar was played by Karnatak Super Star Hatrik Hero Shivrajkumar.
Book
His book Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand gives an account of the rise and fall of Veerappan. The last section details about the Operation Cocoon.
