RTIwala Trending CBI: A big shake-up of the higher accord offices in India’s Paramilitary Forces as well as its Investigative Agencies is seen. The Cabinet Appointments Committee approved the elevation of eight Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to the posts of special Directors and Special Directors-General. Most notable among them is the elevation of Rakesh Asthana. He is currently serving as the additional director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He has been promoted to the post of special director of the CBI.
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Gujarat-cadre IPS Officer Rakesh Asthana, has been investigating high-profile cases like the AgustaWestland. This promotion as special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation is a really big deal. Mr. Asthana now becomes the second in command in the Central probe agency after CBI Director Alok Verma. He currently holds the charge of the additional director in the agency.
The Achievements of Mr. Asthana
Mr. Asthana, a 1984 batch police service officer, headed the state Special Investigation Team that probed the burning of Sabarmati Express in Godhra in February 2002. He was also associated with the probe into the fodder scam in Bihar. A Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, one of the key cases that Asthana has been handling in the investigative agency is against Lalu Prasad Yadav. The former railway minister has been accused of several irregularities in tenders during his term as railway minister in 2006.
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Mr. Asthana has also served as the interim chief of the investigating agency after Anil Sinha retired on December 2 last year. He is among eight IPS officers promoted yesterday by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Other Enrollments of Rakesh Asthana
Seven other IPS officers of the 1984 batch have also been approved for the rank of special director-general in other agencies. The other IPS officers promoted were Gurbachan Singh and Arvind Kumar as Special Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB). Deepak Kumar Mishra and Sudeep Lakhtakia have been appointed as Special DG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Rajesh Ranjan and AP Maheshwari have been appointed as Special DG in the Border Security Force (BSF).
Javed Ahmed, a 1984-batch IPS officer who served as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh has been given the rank of special DG at the Centre. He had launched key police modernization projects such as the ‘Twitter Seva” in the state.
(Inputs by Gehna Kundra)