Bangalore: Is he Shankar Bidri or A.R. Infant? At any rate, Neelam Achyutha Rao is retiring on Nov 30, 2011 as IGP on Nrupathunga Road in city.

But 2 contenders have cropped up. Bidri is due to retire in May 2012, says Home ministry.

So for 6 months, he could be the new IGP, say reliable sources. There are two other dark horses in the race S. Mohapatra and RK Dutta. All 4 names are sent to UPSC for selection to the ‘top cop’ post.

But, UPSC picks 3 names and sends the pruned list to state Government, which appoints one of them as DG-IGP.

Bidri at present has no equals, with two national awards in his kitty. He is the father of a top-ranking IAS girl married to an IPS at present.

But the process has to be gone through for a final selection by Home ministry by his month-end.