Former SSB chief Arun Chaudhary succumbs to COVID

New Delhi, April 25

Former Sashastra Seema Bal chief Arun Chaudhary has succumbed to coronavirus, officials said on Sunday. He was 66.

A 1977-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Bihar cadre, Chaudhary served for nearly two decades in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) where he headed the Jammu and Kashmir desk.

In his early service days, he served in various positions in his cadre state and also had a stint with the Central Industrial Security Force, where he headed its airport security unit.

In December 2012, he was appointed Director-General of the SSB and retired from service on April 30, 2014.

The around 90,000-personnel-strong force paramilitary force guards the Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

The SSB condoled his death on social media, saying it was “saddened by the untimely demise of Chaudhary”.

“His contribution to the nation and SSB cannot be forgotten,” it tweeted. “SSB stands by his family in this period of grief and sorrow and prays to the almighty that the departed soul may rest in peace.”               Chaudhary was active on Twitter and he used to comment on subjects of security, strategy, and law and order. His last activity on the microblogging platform was a retweet on April 17 of a news story titled, ‘Coronavirus situation worsens in India’. — PTI