Gujarat cadre officer Asthana is BSF DG

New Delhi, August 17

The government today appointed former CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, as Director General (DG) of the Border Security Force (BSF).

Asthana is currently DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, with an additional charge of DG, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He will continue to hold the additional charge of the NCB. Asthana has been appointed BSF DG from the date of joining the post up to July 31, 2021, the date of his superannuation, the order said. Asthana has probed high-profile cases such as the Sabarmati Express fire

Guj-cadre officer Asthana is BSF DG incident in Godhra in 2002. He also arrested RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam in 1997 while holding the post of SP in the CBI.

However, the officer hogged the limelight in 2018 with the ‘CBI vs CBI’ case when he was removed from the agency. CBI former director Alok Verma had accused him of taking bribe after a Hyderabad-based businessman and a suspect in the Moin Qureshi corruption case, Sana Satish, alleged on October 4, 2018, he paid Rs 2.95 crore to Asthana through middlemen Somesh and Manoj. This sparked a bitter battle between Asthana and Verma, with the former writing to the vigilance commission and listing 10 cases where he alleged Verma tried to influence the investigation.

Asthana alleged Satish claimed to have paid Rs 2 crore in bribe to Verma to avoid action by the CBI. He alleged when Satish was called in for questioning in February 2018, Verma restricted Asthana from examining him.

In an another appointment, VSK Kaumudi, a 1986-batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed Special Secretary, Internal Security, in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) till his superannuation on November 30, 2022.