Rajwinder Bhatti named CISF chief, Daljit Chaudhary to be new BSF DG
According to the Centre’s orders, the Union home ministry’s proposal related to the two appointments was approved by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre on Wednesday issued orders to appoint Bihar director general of police (DGP) RS Bhatti as the chief of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) chief, Daljit Chaudhary, as the DG of the Border Security Force (BSF).
According to the Centre’s orders, the Union home ministry’s proposal related to the two appointments was approved by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both Bhatti and Chawdhary are part of the 1990 batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS).
Bhatti had earlier worked in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), SSB and was also posted as the chief vigilance officer of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) before his appointment as the Bihar police chief. His appointment comes as the CISF is creating a security plan for the Parliament. The force was given its charge following a security breach in December 2023.
Bhatti is the second top police officer from Bihar to be given orders to head a federal agency in the last two days. On Tuesday, the government appointed 1993 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer B Srinivasan as the director general of the National Security Guard (NSG).
Meanwhile, Chaudhary was the acting chief of the BSF until Thursday. He was appointed the acting DG on August 2 after incumbent BSF chief Nitin Aggarwal was repatriated to his parent cadre(Kerala) by the government almost two years before his tenure.
Chaudhary is taking charge of the force at a time when the India-Bangladesh border is on high alert since August 5 following the political turmoil in the neighbouring nation.Over the last three weeks, he visited the different borders in West Bengal and Tripura to take stock of the situation.
The BSF will also be involved in providing security during the Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) elections while continuing to ensure that there is no infiltration from Pakistan. The rising cases of infiltration and terror attacks, especially in Jammu, have become a new challenge for security forces.
Moreover, the Centre is likely to issue orders related to other key vacant posts in the next few weeks. Top officials in the paramilitary forces said the mid-level and senior officers in the forces are eagerly discussing the different names doing the rounds and waiting for orders to be issued.
“In all paramilitary forces, the senior officers are waiting for the names to be announced. There is a lot of interest because of the names of people doing the rounds. But, at the same time, the government sometimes springs a surprise as was in the cases of the two Bihar senior officers who have been brought to the Centre in the last two days,” a senior paramilitary officer, requesting anonymity, said. “We are hearing names like the current Assam DGP, who could be called to the Centre and also the current Delhi police commissioner who is also being considered for an important assignment.”
Over the next week, the post of DG of the Narcotics Control Bureau, currently held by SN Pradhan, will be vacant upon his superannuation on August 31. Officials said that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has already received applications for the NCB chief’s post but is yet to finalise the personnel.
For the vacant post, the MHA, on July 31, had asked states to send names of eligible police officers. The post of the NTRO (National Technical Research Organisation) chief is also vacant, while the post of the head of Bureau of Civil Aviation and Security(BCAS) will be vacant on October 31 upon the current chief’s superannuation.
