Agartala, Jun 11 (IANS): The Tripura government on Monday appointed senior IAS officer Usurupati Venkateswarlu as the new Chief Secretary of the state, officials said.

Venkateswarlu, a 1986 batch Tripura-Manipur cadre IAS officer, is currently Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor.

An official said the Chief Secretary would look after the General Administration (Confidential and Cabinet) and Planning (including Statistics) Departments.

General Administration (Secretariat Administration) and General Administration (Political) Deparment Secretary T. K. Chakma would also hold the charge of Secretary to Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki.

In a major administrative reshuffle a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced last month, the state government had transferred Chief Secretary Lalit Kumar Gupta and a large numbers of IAS, IPS and Tripura Civil Service officers.

In another important development, Tripura Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Shukla left the state on June 1 on leave.

"In the absence of Shukla, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Rajiv Singh is looking after the charge of DGP," an official of Tripura Home Department told IANS.