IPS officer Rakesh Asthana on Tuesday was appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner. A 1984-batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre, Asthana was appointed as Delhi police chief, three days before he was to superannuate.
Who is Rakesh Asthana?
Born on July 9, 1961, Rakesh is an Indian Police Service officer of the 1984 batch of Gujarat cadre who served as the Special Director at the Central Bureau of Investigation.
He completed his educated from Netarhat Residential School, Netarhat and at the St. John's College, Agra. He pursued higher education from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and subsequently cleared the civil services examination in the first attempt.
Rakesh Asthana's career:
During his career, Asthana has been part of several high-profile investigations. Under then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Asthana was appointed as Vadodara's police commissioner. He had investigated 2002 Sabarmati Express fire incident in Godhra, which led to the death of at least 59 persons.
Rakesh Asthana was given the responsibility to investigate the Fodder Scam, a corruption scandal that involved the embezzlement of about Rs 9.4 billion from the government treasury of the eastern Indian state of Bihar.
In 2015, he headed the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the CBI to investigate former liquor baron Vijay Mallya in the alleged loan fraud and money laundering case amounting to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.
Rakesh Asthana's CBI controversy:
Asthana was involved in a major controversy in 2018, due to his feud with the then CBI chief Alok Verma.
Verma and Asthana were sent on leave on the recommendation of the CVC by the Government of India. Verma went to the Supreme Court of India to appeal and Asthana to Delhi High Court. Supreme Court cancelled the decision to send Verma on leave and Verma was reinstated as CBI director two months later with the instruction that he not take any major decisions till the Selection Committee decides his fate over the corruption charges.
Asthana was issued a clean chit later by the the federal agency in February 2020.
