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IPS officer Rakesh Asthana appointed BSF chief two years after ouster from CBI 

During his tenure in the CBI, Asthana was involved in investigating many high-profile cases and helped build a watertight case for Vijay Mallya’s extradition.

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New Delhi: Former CBI special director Rakesh Asthana was Monday appointed the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF).

A 1984-batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Asthana was moved out of the CBI in 2018 amid a spat between him and former CBI director Alok Verma that saw both of them trade corruption allegations. 

The CBI had booked Asthana on charges of alleged criminal conspiracy, corruption and criminal misconduct, but he was given a clean chit in February this year.

Verma was removed from the CBI too, but he resigned from service.

Two months after the spat first erupted in the public space, in January 2019, Asthana was sent to the Bureau of Civil Aviation and Security, where he maintained a low profile.


Also Read: All you wanted to know about the war in CBI between Rakesh Asthana and Alok Verma


Investigated many high-profile cases

During his tenure in the CBI, Asthana was involved in investigating high-profile cases like the 2002 Sabarmati Express fire in Godhra, which was followed by riots in Gujarat the same year.  

As superintendent of police in the CBI, he arrested Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam in 1997. Lalu has since been convicted of corruption in the fodder scam and is currently in jail.

Asthana also headed the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the CBI to investigate the Vijay Mallya case — which involves allegations of fraud and money laundering to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore — in 2015. Until 2018, he also led the agency’s case in British courts to seek Mallya’s extradition.

In April this year, the United Kingdom High Court dismissed Mallya’s plea against extradition, bringing India a step closer to bringing the fugitive businessman back to the country. 

As a member of an SIT formed by CBI to look into the charges against Mallya, Asthana is believed to have played a key role in building a watertight case against him.

The CBI registered an FIR in the matter on 29 July 2015. By June 2016, the agency had arrested several senior bank officers. In January 2017, the agency filed the charge sheet in a CBI court. 

This charge sheet then formed the basis of the rejection of Mallya’s plea against extradition, sources in the agency had said earlier.

This report has been updated to correct the year until which Asthana represented the CBI during the extradition hearings in the UK


Also Read: How CBI convinced UK High Court that Vijay Mallya needs to be extradited to India


 

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