The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) on Sunday appointed Rakesh Asthana as special director in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Asthana is a 1984 batch IPS officer from Gujarat.
With the elevation, he has now become the second senior-most officer in the agency after CBI director Alok Verma.
Asthana is currently an additional director in the CBI and is handling several important probes including the AgustaWestland scam and cases related to allegations of corruption in Delhi government among others.
He has earlier served as SP in CBI in 1994 and has handled the investigation of Bihar's fodder scam.
Asthana arrested RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1997 for the scam and was part of the investigation till 2001.
He has also been part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Gujarat government to probe the Godhra train burning incident.
Apart from Asthana, the ACC has cleared the promotion of seven other IPS officers of the 1984 batch.
Javeed Ahmed, a 1984-batch IPS officer who served as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh and launched key police modernisation projects such as the 'Twitter Seva' in the state, was given the rank of special DG at the Centre.
Ahmed, a former CBI joint director who was posted at the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science under the home ministry, has been given the rank of special DG on 'in-situ' basis, the notification said.
1984-batch IPS officers Deepak Mishra, AGMU cadre, and Sudeep Lakhtakia, Telangana cadre, have been promoted as special DGs in the CRPF.
Both were serving in the force as additional DGs, it said.
A P Maheshwari, UP cadre, and Rajesh Ranjan, Bihar cadre, both 1984-batch IPS officers who held the posts of additional DG in the BSF, have been promoted as special DGs in the force.
Two 1984-batch IPS officers posted as additional directors in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Gurbachan Singh, Odisha cadre, and Arvind Kumar -- have been given the ranks of special director.
This was announced by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training.

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