Ishrat probe officer gets new Secy-level posting for 2 yrs

Senior IAS officer BK Prasad, who probed the Ishrat Jahan missing files case and was at the centre of a row after a report alleged he was ‘tutoring’ a witness, on Thursday got a new Secretary-level posting for a two- year period.

Prasad, who was appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes, had got a two-month extension ending this Sunday after he was due to retire on May 31 after completing 60 years of age on superannuation. He is working as Additional Secretary in Home Ministry.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved appointment of Prasad to the new post for two years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said. The Commission, which works under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, was constituted in 2005 to study various developmental aspects of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic tribes in the country.

Prasad, a 1983 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, had rubbished the allegations of ‘tutoring’ a witness while probing into ‘missing papers’ relating to the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, contesting that he had conducted a fair inquiry and that all officers inquired by him are fully capable of answering questions relating to the probe on their own. “No evidence has been produced establishing that Ashok Kumar testified being ‘tutored’ during my alleged conversation,” he had said. The government had earlier appointed IAS officer Bipin Bihari Mallick.