CRPF gets Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar as new DG, Pachnanda to be new ITBP head

New Delhi: Under attack for delay in clearing key appointments, two days after 25 CRPF men were martyred in a deadly Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh, the government today appointed 1983 batch IPS officer Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar as the new Director General of the CRPF. Mr Bhatnagar's name was cleared by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, official sources said.

Meanwhile, RK Pachnanda, the 1983 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre has been appointed as the new Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). UP cadre official, Mr Bhatnagar, is at present posted as Director General (DG) Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He also has served the CISF in 2015 as the additional director general. Mr Bhatnagar was appointed as DG, NCB on February 10, 2016. Sudeep Lakhtakia, a 1984 batch IPS officer, is at present serving as acting director of CRPF.

The government has come under severe criticism, especially after the Sukma ambush for keeping the top in country's premier central police organisation vacant since the full time director K Durga Prasad retired in February. Mr Pachnanda, the new DG for ITBP, is at present the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Pachnanda, whose name was recommended for CRPF chief in February, has also served as Additional Director General (Operations & Works), CRPF, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata besides having served as Additional Director General (HQ), CISF and also Additional Director General (Airport), CISF. (UNI)