# C. K. Gandhirajan

Dr. C. K. Gandhirajan is a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer of the 1985 batch belonging to the Tamil Nadu cadre. Hailing from Thiruvallur District, he served as the Director General of Police, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services in Tamil Nadu. He obtained a PhD. in criminology from the University of Madras. He is the author of two books, Organized Crime and Inside Prisons.

## Early life and education

C.K. Gandhirajan did his schooling in the Thiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu. He majored in chemistry at the University of Madras. He holds a doctorate for his thesis on "organized crime" from the University of Madras. He is interested in subjects like Community policing, organized crime, juvenile delinquency, and police training.

## Career

C.K. Gandhirajan joined the IPS as a member of the 1985 batch. He did his training at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad. After serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police, he was promoted to Superintendent of Police in 1989 and served in the Dharmapuri, Erode, and Chengalpattu East Districts. He was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in the Washermanpet area of Chennai. In 1999, he was promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police and served in the Chennai Range, armed police, training, and railways. He was promoted to the rank of Inspector General of Police on October 22, 2005, and served in Operations and Intelligence before being posted as The Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City. He was promoted to Additional Director General of Police on 1 November 2010, where he headed the Enforcement and Tamil Nadu Police Transport Corporation.

## Asaithambi Encounter, 1996

Asaithambi was a notorious gangster in the 1990s, prominent in the underworld of North Chennai. He was involved in kidnapping, extortion and contract killing.
When he extended his criminal activities throughout the city, the government of Tamil Nadu commissioned a special team, Operation Asai, headed by then Chennai Superintendent of Police C.K. Gandhirajan.
On July 30, 1996, Gandhirajan and his team gunned down Asaithambi and his gang in front of Loyola College, Chennai. Gandhirajan was awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry for his actions.
The year 1996 is considered the first encounter in Chennai city limits.

## Ranks held

Indian Police Service :
| Rank | Date Acquired |
| Additional Director-General of Police – ADGP | 2010 |
| Inspector-General – IG | 2005 |
| Deputy Inspector-General – DIG | 2000 |
| Superintendent of Police – SP | 1990 |
| Assistant Superintendent of Police – ASP | 1988 |

## Awards and honours

* As Superintendent of Police, Gandhirajan was awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG)for an encounter with a criminal in Chennai in 2000. The medal is equivalent to the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) which is awarded to police officers in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations.
* As Additional Director General of Police, Gandhirajan was awarded the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPM) on 28 August 2013

## Teaching and training experience

* He has organized training programs and delivered several lectures on Organized Crime, Community Policing, Computer Crimes and Juvenile Delinquency at the Police Training College in Chennai to Police Officers across various levels.
* He is also a guest faculty for M.A. Criminology at the Madras University.
* A detailed study has been conducted on criminal gangs in Chennai City for thesis research in the Department of Criminology University of Madras. The study deals with notorious organized criminal gangs. This study concentrated on the gang's organizational structure, their modus operandi and the socio-economic condition of the members of these gangs.

## Thesis submitted

* In the 26th All India Criminology Conference held at the University of Madras in December 2002, he participated and presented a paper on the Empirical Study on Organized Crime.
* Participated and presented a paper on Crime Risk Reduction: Multi-Dimensional Approach at a National Seminar on Crime Prevention organized by the Indian Society of Criminology at Madras University on 10 September 2002.
* Participated and presented a paper on Crime Prevention at a seminar organized by the Institute of Criminological Research Education and Services on 30 October 1999 at Jaya College of Arts and Science at Chennai.
* As a member of the Organizing Committee, he organized an All India Criminology Conference at the Madras University in collaboration with the Indian Society of Criminology from 26 to 28 December 2002