The Centre on Friday appointed former Central Bureau of Investigation second-in-command Rakesh Asthana director general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, a day after removing him and three other officers from the agency.
Asthana has been appointed to the post for two years and his tenure will begin the day he assumes charge, according to a Ministry of Home Affairs notification. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, a branch of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is the regulatory authority for the sector in India.
Anil Kumar Sharma, one of the three other officers removed, was appointed additional director general of police of the Central Reserve Police Force earlier in the day. The home ministry said his tenure would run till April 28, 2020.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Thursday approved the Department of Personnel and Training’s proposal to curtail the tenure of the four CBI officers over a week after a selection committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, removed CBI Director Alok Verma.
The Modi government had sent Asthana and Verma on leave in October after they accused each other of corruption. The Supreme Court reinstated Verma on January 8, two days before the selection panel removed him. Verma, however, declined to take charge as the director general of Fire Services, Civil Defence, and Home Guards, and submitted his resignation.
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