Ex-NIA chief handling Kashmir terror-funding case, appointed CVC head: All you need to know about ex-Haryana top cop

Former National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sharad Kumar was appointed as the new vigilance commissioner of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Sunday. According to the official order, Kumar has been appointed as the vigilance commissioner for a term of four years or till he attains the age of 65. [caption id=“attachment_4504853” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ex-NIA chief Sharad Kumar to be the CVC vigilance commissioner. Image courtesy: Twitter-@ManojTiwariMP[/caption] Kumar, 62, is a 1979-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, who retired in September 2017 served as the head of NIA for over four years. A Bachelor of Science graduate, Kumar, who hails from Bareilly, was appointed as the chief of NIA on 30 July, 2013 and was given an extension even after his retirement. According to a report in DNA, the NDA government re-employed him on a contractual basis with annual extensions twice, which is considered a rare case in the bureaucratic system. Kumar was also posted as Director General of Prisons in Haryana and was only the second IPS officer from Haryana to head the counter-terrorism law enforcement agency. He had earlier been posted as a DSP in Gurgaon, Ambala and Rohtak and remained the Inspector General of Police, Rohtak range for nearly three years till he was promoted to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) in November 2007.

During the last few months as NIA chief, he was also made in-charge of the Kashmir terror-funding case. Post-retirement, his name was doing rounds to be a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). But at that time, several NGOs had opposed it.

Kumar was also involved with the investigation in the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blast cases. According to The Wire report, a day after the nine accused in the Malegaon blasts were released, a group of former and serving bureaucrats raised objections to his extension as the NIA DG. The NIA had found that some Hindutva extremist groups had planned these blasts and Kumar was then accused of trying to build a forced case against the accused Muslims and shielding the actual culprits. Activists had even alleged that the NIA under Kumar was unnecessarily delaying the case and preventing the Hindutva terror groups from being exposed. However, for his case, Kumar has received the President’s Police medals for meritorious and distinguished services in the years 1996 and 2004. According to The Times of India, at present, the Vigilance Commission comprises of a central vigilance commissioner and two vigilance commissioners. K V Chowdary is the CVC and T M Bhasin is the other vigilance commissioner.