CBI purge continues, government curtails tenure of two senior officers at centre of controversy

New Delhi: The tenures of two senior IPS officers — Anish Prasad and Abhay Singh — at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been curtailed, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued Wednesday. Prasad, a 2003 batch IPS officer of Tripura cadre, was reportedly at the centre of controversy involving the CBI’s two former top officers — ex-chief Alok Kumar Verma and the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana. [caption id=“attachment_4498957” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. AFP[/caption] Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. Verma was removed from the post of CBI Director on 10 January. Prasad, who is at present Deputy Director (Administration) in the central probe agency’s headquarters in New Delhi, had earlier worked in the surveillance unit of the CBI, officials said. At the time of his tussle with Verma, Asthana had written to Central Vigilance Commission and accused the agency of snooping on his family members, they said. Singh, a 2002 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was posted in Ranchi. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved premature repatriation of Prasad and Singh with immediate effect, the order said without citing further details. Both of them were working at the level of Deputy Inspector General (DIG). While Prasad has been asked to go back to his cadre state Tripura, the services of Singh has been placed at the disposal of the Union Home Ministry, the order said. The order came two days after former Madhya Pradesh police chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took over the reins of controversy-hit CBI. Shukla was on Saturday appointed as the CBI Director. The government had in January curtailed the tenure of four CBI officers — Asthana, Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare. CBI Joint Director Praveen Sinha, who was looking after the probe in coal scam cases, has been elevated as the Additional Director, the order said. Sinha is a 1988 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre. Amit Kumar, who was working as Deputy Inspector General in the CBI, has been appointed Joint Director in the CBI. Kumar, a 1998 batch IPS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, was working in the agency’s policy division.