Hyderabad, Sep 30 (IANS): Senior IPS officer B. Prasada Rao was Monday appointed acting Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh. At present, he is the director general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

A 1979 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Rao succeeded V. Dinesh Reddy whose petition for extending his term by one year was dismissed by the high court Sunday.

Dinesh Reddy, who has attained the age of superannuation, took the salute at the customary farewell parade Monday.

The state government is now likely to send a list of director-general level IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) before appointing Rao full time DGP.

The government has decided to follow due procedures this time since in 2012 the high court set aside Dinesh Reddy's appointment for not following norms.

Later, a list of senior IPS officers was sent to the UPSC which shortlisted three names, including Reddy, for the top post. The government then re-appointed Reddy as DGP.

Rao, 58, is taking over at a time when Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) is witnessing protests against the Centre's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.

B. Prasada Rao, who hails from Guntur district of coastal Andhra, has two years service left. He has the reputation of an officer who goes strictly by the rule book.

Earlier, he served as police commissioner of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and as superintendent of police of Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts.

Rao, who did his M.Sc. (Physics) from IIT (Madras) in 1977, continues to evince keen interest in physics. He still does research in his lab at home.

He has also authored a book 'Word power to mind power', a unique method of learning and memorising English vocabulary applying visualisation and contextualisation.