Jayaram Padikkal


R. Jayaram Padikkal was a police official in India. He had served as the Director General of Police, the highest rank in the force in the period 1993-94.

Early years

Jayaram Padikkal I.P.S. was born in Peruvemba village Palghat in Kerala as the son of an Indian Army officer and had his education in Pune. He was said to be a good hockey player and a voracious reader, especially history, crime and philosophy and later joined the Indian Police Service.
In 1982 he was made the Deputy Inspector General of Police, for the state of Kerala and thus became the youngest DIG in the country. He was one of the few Indian Police officers to have received training at the Scotland Yard. He was a recipient of President's Police Medal.

Controversy

When he was Deputy Inspector General of Kerala police, he and Pulikkodan Narayanan were accused of complicity in the torture and death of a student named Rajan at the hands of the police during the period of The Emergency. He was convicted but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was known to maintain a good relationship with the then Kerala Chief minister K. Karunakaran.
A book about his life and career, called The Crime Diary of Jayaram Padikkal, was written by Venganoor Balakrishnan in 1997. It describes him as "a notorious and controversial IPS officer from Kerala, India."
He died in the same year, after falling ill. Before that, he was attacked by some militants on his way from Ernakulam Town railway station to his home nearby.