Prakash Mishra likely to take over as CRPF chief

New Delhi: Special Secretary in the Union home ministry Prakash Mishra is tipped to be the new chief of country’s largest paramilitary force – CRPF. An order for appointment of Mishra, a 1977-batch IPS officer from Odisha cadre, will come soon from the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[caption id=“attachment_1840319” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  CRPF contingent at a Republic Day parade. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] The name of Mishra, who heads the Internal Security division in the ministry and has been the Director General of Police in his state, was cleared by a high-powered committee headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, official sources said today. The post of CRPF Director General has been lying vacant since Dilip Trivedi retired on 30 November. CRPF is the mainstay for anti-Naxal operations in the country and Mishra has himself spearheaded the battle when he was the DGP of Odisha. The about three-lakh personnel force is facing a number of challenges, especially in the Left Wing Extremism theatre, and as many three committees have been formed by the government in the recent past to fine-tune the operational efficacy and modernisation of the paramilitary. PTI