Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, has been appointed the Delhi Police Commissioner, the Union Home Ministry said on Tuesday, 27 July.
"Consequent upon appointment of Rakesh Asthana, Director General, BSF, as Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the competent authority has approved that SS Deswal, Director General, ITBP shall hold additional charge of the post of DG, BSF vice Asthana, till the appointment and joining of the regular incumbent or until further orders whichever is earlier," read the Home Ministry order.
Who is Rakesh Asthana?
The newly appointed Delhi Police Commissioner had been serving as the Director General (DG) of the Border Security Force (BSF) since August last year. His appointment as commissioner has come just 3 days before his previously scheduled date of retirement, 31 July 2021.
He had earlier served as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
In 2018, Asthana, who was the deputy to CBI chief Alok Verma, was booked by the CBI for allegedly receiving bribes from middlemen to give relief to a businessman being probed by him.
The government had then sent Asthana on forced leave, divesting him of his powers along with Verma, after their clash levelling allegations of corruption against each other.
However, the CBI had later given a clean chit to Asthana in the bribery case.
According to a report by The Wire, the former Special Director of the CBI had figured in the leaked Pegasus spyware database, shortly after his removal from the investigative agency.
Asthana has also held crucial posts in the Gujarat government when Narendra Modi was chief minister. He had headed the Special Task Force to look into the Godhra train burning case in 2002.
(With inputs from The Wire)
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