Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma appointed new CBI chief

New Delhi: Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma was on Thursday appointed as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

His elevation was cleared by three-member selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The other two members of the panel were Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

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Since the retirement of Anil Sinha on December 2, the post of CBI director was vacant. Currently, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana is serving as the interim director of the CBI.

Verma, a 1979 batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, took charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner from February 29, 2016.

The 59-year-old Delhi resident has served in various positions in Delhi police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Mizoram and in the Intelligence Bureau.

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Before his appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner, he was working as Director General of Tihar Prisons. Verma, who is going to be the 27^th Director (including two acting chiefs) of the central probe agency, will have a fixed two-year tenure as the CBI chief.

It may be mentioned that he has never worked in CBI at any post earlier.