PM-led panel to meet tomorrow to select CBI chief

The selection committee has Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Justice of India or his nominee as its other members.

New Delhi, Jan 15: A three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet tomorrow to decide on the chief of the country's premier probe agency CBI.

The post of CBI director is lying vacant for over one month following Anil Sinha's retirement on December 2. At present, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana is the interim director of the investigating agency.

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The selection committee has Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Justice of India or his nominee as its other members. A list of about 45 eligible IPS officers has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office for consideration as next CBI director, official sources said today.

The name of senior IPS officers Krishna Choudhary, Aruna Bahuguna and S C Mathur, among others are doing the rounds as strong contenders for the top post, they said. Choudhary and Bahuguna are 1979 batch IPS officers of Bihar and Telangana cadre respectively.

Chaudhary is Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force and Bahuguna is Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad. Mathur, a 1981 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, is working with Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Ltd.

PTI