Rakesh Asthana takes over as Delhi Police Commissioner

New Delhi, July 28: Rakesh Asthana, a senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, took over as the Commissioner of Delhi Police.

Earlier the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Asthana, currently serving as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF), will join as the Delhi Police Commissioner with immediate effect.

This is one of the very few instances when an IPS officer outside of the AGMUT cadre has been appointed as the Delhi Police chief.

Usually, an officer belonging to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre is appointed to the post.

Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, had served as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his stint in the CBI, he was engaged in an unsavoury spat with the then CBI Director Alok Verma.