Radha Vinod Raju to head NIA: Govt

New Delhi, Jan 14: Government of India on Thursday, Jan 15 appointed Radha Vinod Raju as the Director General of the newly established National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is currently serving as Special Director General of Police in Jammu Kashmir.

Raju (59), a 1975 batch IPS officer, heads the vigilance department in the terror-struck Jammu Kashmir. He will head the NIA till Jan 21, 2010. Keeping in view of his wide knowledge and experiences in investigating sensational and high-profile cases including former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination government appointed him to the coveted post. It was the Union Minister P Chidambaram who recommended Raju's name which was later signed by the Appointments Committee (AC) of Cabinet. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads AC.

Omar Abdullah, the Jammu Kashmir chief minister issued orders to relieve Raju with immediate effect so that Raju can enable his deputation to the Centre. He was to retire on July 31, this year. Raju has served in various sections of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Vigilance Department.

The Government had also sought views on it from various investigating and intelligence agencies, including the CBI, Intelligence Bureau and newly constituted National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). All of them favoured an Indian Police Service official to head NIA.

Union Parliament cleared NIA bill in Dec, 2008. As per the proposal, the National Investigation Agency will empowers the Central government to investigate the terror attacks happening in any part of India, covering offences, including challenge to the nation's sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships and attacks on nuclear installations. Government sources said that the ground staff of the agency in Delhi will be drawn from existing central staff and security organisations.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)