Ex-CBI special director Rakesh Asthana appointed Delhi Police chief

Representation pic. Pic/AFP

The Centre on Tuesday appointed former Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Rakesh Asthana, as the new Commissioner of Delhi Police.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in an order, "Consequent upon the appointment of Rakesh Adthana, IPS, (GJ:84) Director General, BSF, as Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the competent authority has approved that S.S. Deswal, IPS (Hy:84), Director General of ITBP, shall hold the additional charge of post of DF, BSF, vice Asthana, till the appointment and joining of the regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier."

The order further stated that accordingly, it is requested to relieve Asthana immediately to enable him to join as Commissioner of Police, Delhi. Asthana will be in charge of Delhi Police for a period of one year, till July 31, 2022. His date of retirement was July 31, which has been extended by one year "as a special case in public interest".

The government had given additional charge of Delhi Police to Balaji Srivastava after the retirement of S.N. Shrivastava on June 30. Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, was holding the posts of Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) and chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). In October 2018, the battle between then CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Asthana became public, forcing the government to intervene in the matter and transfer both the officers from the agency.

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Asthana as the Director General of NCB has been at the forefront of drug seizures and has directed investigation into the influx of cocaine and synthetic drugs in the Mumbai film industry. He also led the NCB in its probe into the drugs angle in Bollywood that emerged following the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year. As the Director General of BSF, Asthana has pushed the force to make the borders more secure by unravelling tunnels used by Pakistan-based terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

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