Lucknow, June 30 (IANS): Jagmohan Yadav on Tuesday took over as the new director general of police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh after the retirement of A.K. Jain, who was earlier given a three-month extension by the Akhilesh Yadav government.

Yadav was Director General (CB-CID) till now. He is the 8th police chief of Uttar Pradesh in the last three-and-a-half years of the Samajwadi Party (SP) rule.

The 1983 batch IPS officer will have a tenure of six months before his retirement. He is reportedly close to the Yadav clan and narrowly missed out on the top post twice in the past.

Removed as ADG (law and order) two years ago, Yadav has had a controversial past.

Yadav will have a lot on his hands during his brief tenure as DGP since communal tensions are on the rise in many parts of the state, specially western Uttar Pradesh.

Panchayat elections are also in the offing, which have a bloody past and are touted as a big challenge for the state police.

Addressing his maiden press conference, Yadav said improving law and order and crime control were his top priorities.