I succumbed to political pressure: Aravinda Rao

HYDERABAD: Outgoing DGP K Aravinda Rao, who retires Thursday, admitted that he had succumbed to political pressure at times during his lengthy-career. In a candid interview to Express, he put it philosophically: “Yes, I did sometimes. Such pressures are bound to be there. There is no hiding the fact. That’s human nature.” He also set at rest rumours that he might be given an extension. But who’s going to succeed him? The suspense over his successor will end only Thursday. Though speculation is rife that the “battle” is between KR Nandan and V Dinesh Reddy, it is still not known as to who would ultimately be the state police chief.“The orders are likely to be issued by tomorrow afternoon,” sources said. The screening committee headed by Chief Secretary SV Prasad is understood to have given a list of five IPS officers, as per their seniority, to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday before he flew to Delhi.The names on the list are KR Nandan, P Gautam Kumar, A Sivasankar, Umesh Kumar and V Dinesh Reddy. It is learnt that Balwinder Singh, who retires in December this year, has not been short-listed.All through the day, the entire IPS fraternity was busy guessing who would be their next boss.  “If the orders are being issued tomorrow, it is a clear indication that a junior officer may be appointed. If it were a senior, the orders would have been issued by now,” some of them reasoned.