Rakesh Asthana appointed BSF's DG

New Delhi: Former special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Rakesh Asthana, has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday.

In an order by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned that the "Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Asthana as the new DG of BSF." The senior bureaucrat was holding charge as DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) with an additional charge of DG, NCB. He will take over the new post on Tuesday morning.

Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, had been involved in investigating some high-profile cases such as Sabarmati Express fire incident in Godhra in 2002.

He also arrested Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam in 1997, while he was holding the post of superintendent of police in the CBI. He came into the spotlight in 2018 in the 'CBI vs CBI' case and was removed from his post in the agency after a case of bribery and extortion was lodged against him in the same year. He had alleged that this was done at the behest of the then CBI director Alok Verma.

Whereas, Verma was also asked to leave the agency and was transferred as DG Fire Services. But Md. Jawed Akhtar, a 1986- batch UP cadre IPS officer, who is presently the Special DG of CRPF will take charge as the new DG, Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guard, the MHA order also mentioned.

VSK Kaumudi, a 1986-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer, who is presently working as DG, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), will be Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the MHA.

Currently, Director-General of ITBP SS Deswal, a batch mate of Asthana has been holding the post of the additional charge of BSF since March this year. But in the wake of recent Indo-China border tension at the LAC, the government feel to appoint a full-time BSF chief, experts believe.