New Delhi: The government on Thursday appointed Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of two years.
Verma’s name was cleared by a three-member selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge as members.
As per news agency PTI, during the meeting of the selection committee held on January 16, Kharge is understood to have recorded his dissent note on Verma’s name on the ground that the officer had never served in CBI.
Verma made it to the top post in the premier investigating agency pipping a number of contenders including Director General of Indo Tibetan Border Police Krishna Choudhary and Maharashtra’s Director General of Police SC Mathur.
He took charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner on February 29, 2016, and was to hold the post till July 2017.
The post of CBI director was lying vacant for over one month following Anil Sinha’s retirement on December 2.
At present, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana is the interim director of the investigating agency.
59-year-old Verma, a 1979 batch IPS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre, belongs to Delhi.
He has worked in various positions in the Delhi Police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Mizoram and in the Intelligence Bureau.
Before being appointed as Delhi Police Commissioner, he was Director General of Tihar Prisons here.
Verma is the 27th Director (including two acting chief) of the CBI.
(With Agency inputs)
Source: Zee News