Letika Saran

Letika Saran is the former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier she served as the 36th Commissioner of Police in Chennai. She is the only woman to head a metropolitan police organization in India. Before that she was an Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP).

Saran was born on March 31, 1952 at Idukki district in Kerala. She entered the Tamil Nadu Indian Police Service in 1976 as one of the first two women to be admitted.

Saran's postings include ADGP; Training and Project Director, Tamil Nadu Police Academy; Inspector-General of Police, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). She became the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai n 20 April 2006.

On 8 January 2010, she was appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) for Tamil Nadu, becoming the second female DGP of a state in India and the first for Tamil Nadu. Saran's appointment was later challenged by another IPS officer who claimed his seniority had been overlooked. In October 2010, the Madras High Court overturned Saran's appointment and ruled that a list of three eligible candidates must be presented from which the state government would make their selection. The state government, "after due consideration and in full compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court," again chose Saran from the list. She was re-appointed on November 27, 2010.

Saran retired in April 2012.