Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday brought back R Rajagopalan as director general of police less than two year after she shunted him from that post.

Rajagopalan, who was director, Uniformed Services Recruitment Board, exchanged posts with B P Nailwal.

Commissioner of Chennai Metropolitan Police when Jayalalithaa was chief minister during 1991-96, Rajagopalan was shifted as DGP after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam returned to power in 2001.

Days before the controversial arrest of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M Karunanidhi, he was replaced by A Ravindranath, who made way for Nailwal.

Rajagopalan then moved to the Centre, where he was director general of the elite National Security Guards, and returned to Chennai after a few months to take over the USRB.

Rajagopalan, who is due to retire in March, is the second person in Tamil Nadu to hold the top police post after a break.

Earlier, F V Arul was inspector general of police until the Congress lost power in 1967. After a stint at the Centre, where he was director, Central Bureau of Investigation, Arul returned as police chief under the DMK regime.