Rakesh Asthana appointed BSF chief, VSK Kaumudi MHA Special Secy

Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana has been appointed the chief of the Border Security Force and V S K Kaumudi the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry on Monday.

New Delhi:Former CBI special directorRakesh Asthana was appointed as the Director-General of Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday.

Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre who was handling the top post of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BSAS), will continue to hold additional charge as Director General (DG), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He will be succeeded by SS Deswal, who has been holding the additional charge as DG BSF since March 11.

The BSF was headed by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) DG Deswal as a stop-gap arrangement for over five months after then BSF chief Vivek Johri was repatriated to his parent cadre Madhya Pradesh on March 11. The BSF is working without a regular chief since March after incumbent V K Johri was repatriated to Madhya Pradesh.

The BSF, which is entrusted with the responsibilities of guarding the country's frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh, is also deployed in tackling Naxalism in Chattisgarh and Odisha.

In 2018, CBI had registered a bribery case against Asthana on the basis of a complaint filed by Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Sana, facing probe in a 2017 money laundering case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi. He was arrested on October 22, 2018, and granted bail on October 31.

The newly-appointed BSF chief was subsequently given a clean chit on all the allegation made against him in March this year.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal to appoint the Gujarat-cadre officer as the BSF chief till July 31, 2021, when he is slated to retire.

The panel also approved the appointment of VSK Kaumudi, a 1986-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre officer, as Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry till November 30, 2022, the officer's retirement date. Kaumudi, is presently working as DG, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

His batchmate from Uttar Pradesh cadre, Md Jawed Akhtar has been appointed the DG, Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard. Akhtar, who is presently working as the Special DG of the Central Reserve Police Force, will hold the charge of the post till July 31, 2021 i.e. the date of his superannuation, it added.

With inputs from agencies