Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar appointed as Director General of CRPF

Almost two months after the post fell vacant, Government on Wednesday appointed senior IPS officer Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar as the new Director General of CRPF, which lost 25 personnel in a naxal attack two days ago.

Bhatnagar, a 1983-batch officer who is presently Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau replaces in-charge Sudeep Lakhatia.

The CRPF has been functioning without a full-time chief since the retirement of K Durgaprasad on February 28.

The government faced criticism over the delay in the appointment of a regular Director General after the deadly naxal attack in Sukma. Sources had said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had forwarded names to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) twice earlier but no decision was taken.

A section of security establishment felt that things could have been better if the CRPF had a regular Director General much earlier.

In another development, the government also appointed senior IPS officer R K Pachnanda, currently Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), as the chief of Indo-Tiberan Border Police (ITBP).

Pachnanda, also a 1983 batch officer, will be replacing Krishna Chaudhary, who will retire in June.