LUCKNOW, June 1 -- Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rajeev Krishna, 55, of the 1991 batch, who proved his mettle while ensuring smooth conduct of the police recruitment re-exam in August last year, will be the new director general of police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh. With a service period till June 2029, Krishna is the youngest IPS officer to get the coveted post in the state. He takes over from outgoing DGP Prashant Kumar who superannuated on Saturday. All speculation about Kumar's service extension was laid to rest after the state information department confirmed Krishna being finalised for the top post. He took charge late Saturday evening. Krishna, the fifth consecutive acting DGP of the state in the past three years, will continue to hold additional charge of director general of Vigilance and director of UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board. He was one of the youngest to become an IPS officer at the age of 22. Before him, Sri Ram Arun (1963 batch) was the youngest IPS officer to become UP DGP in 1997 at the age of 57. Mukul Goel was the last full-fledged DGP in UP. He was removed from the post on May 11, 2022 following allegations of inaction and lack of interest in work. A senior home department official said two key factors were behind the selection of Rajeev Krishna. "First, the way Krishna handled the biggest police recruitment written examination and got it conducted successfully recently. The state government faced a major embarrassment after back-to-back question paper leaks in February 2024. The entire police recruitment written examination was cancelled and reconducted in August last year. Second, Krishna suits the new rule laid by the state government for the appointment of a permanent DGP in November 2024," he emphasised. He elaborated that Krishna earned the state government's trust as he managed things well during the police recruitment exam involving 48,17,441 applicants, including 15 lakh women. The successful completion of the recruitment process for 60,244 posts of police constable turned out to be a major relief. The question papers of Review Officer (RO) and Assistant RO were also leaked before the police recruitment question paper leak in February last year, he recalled. The official further said Krishna used a comprehensive strategy, including Artificial Intelligence, strict confidentiality protocols, and rigorous security arrangements to dismantle the plans of copy mafias and solver gangs. He said AI enabled strong safeguards against any malpractice during the examination process. Along with Prashant Kumar, five more IPS officers superannuated on Saturday. Reacting to the appointment of Rajeev Krishna as the fifth consecutive acting UP DGP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a swipe at the double engine government. Taking to X, he wrote in an apparent reference to the outgoing state police chief, "Today, while leaving, he must be thinking what did he get, after he kept proving every wrong to be right. If he had been loyal to the constitution and the law instead of the person, he would have at least got respect in his own eyes." "Now, it remains to be seen whether the new person is able to free himself from the web that has been woven in the entire state and deliver justice impartially or else he too becomes a victim of politics by getting trapped in the same web. Why should the people of UP and poor law and order suffer due to the Delhi-Lucknow fight?...