Rakesh Asthana, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer and former CBI Special Director, appointed Delhi Police commissioner

New Delhi: Rakesh Asthana, a senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, was appointed as the Commissioner of Delhi Police. According to a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order on Tuesday, Asthana, currently serving as Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF), will join as the Delhi Police Commissioner with immediate effect. The appointment of Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, to the post of Commissioner of Police (CP), Delhi came just days before his superannuation on 31 July. While clearing his appointment as the CP Delhi, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the inter-cadre deputation from Gujarat to AGMUT cadre. The ACC also extended his service initially for a period of one year beyond the date of his superannuation on 31 July or until further order, whichever is earlier. This is one of the very few instances when an IPS officer outside of the AGMUT cadre has been appointed as the Delhi Police chief. Usually, an officer belonging to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre is appointed to the post. Asthana had earlier served as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his stint in the CBI in 2018, he was engaged in an unsavoury spat with the then CBI Director Alok Verma with both of them levelling allegations of corruption against each other. Both the officers were later removed from the central probe agency by the Union government and Asthana was subsequently cleared of the charges. Asthana was appointed chief of the BSF in August 2020. He was also holding the additional charge of the head of the Narcotics Control Bureau. Asthana had also served as the DG of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The police officer has served in various capacities in Gujarat Police apart from serving in various ranks of the CBI. Senior IPS officer Balaji Srivastav is currently holding the charge of CP Delhi, after the retirement of SN Shrivastava in June-end.