IPS officer Rakesh Asthana, who was handling the top post of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, has been now appointed as the Director General of Border Security Force.
According to NDTV, the former official of the Central Bureau of Investigations had run into controversy two years ago with his bitter public feud with his then boss Alok Verma and was subject to long investigation in a bribery case in which he was allegedly involved. He got a clean chit from the agency in February this year.
Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer, is also holding additional charge of DG, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
As per reports, in 2018, the Central Government had divested both Asthana -a former Special Director of CBI and the then CBI Director Alok Verma of their powers after taking note of “the grave allegations of corruption by senior functionaries of CBI one against another, which had been widely reported in media, had vitiated the official eco-system of the organization”.
The complainant, who was being investigated in a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, alleged that Rakesh Asthana took a bribe of ₹ 2.95 crore to help him in the case.
In August last year, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the officer for temporary charge of the Narcotics Control Bureau.
He is also in the running for the top post of the CBI – where he had worked for six years. The incumbent RK Shukla will be retiring in February next year.
