Thiruvananthapuram: Mr Nirmal Chandra Asthana, a 1986-batch IPS officer, has been posted as Vigilance director ending the double posts being held by state police chief Loknath Behera. Mr Asthana has been serving as DGP modernisation and was allowed to work from Delhi due to personal reasons. Mr Behera was given the post of Vigilance director in March 2017 after Mr Jacob Thomas was removed from the post following a series of allegations, including land deals and irregularities.
Giving charge of the two DGP cadre post to the same officer had violated the IPS rules. It also triggered allegations that Vigilance probes against many prominent persons were being scuttled under Mr Behera. Though the government considered the option of lowering the post of Vigilance director to that of ADGP so as to post an ADGP rank officer as Vigilance director, it was dropped as it could trigger strong resentment from the police top brass as there are six other officers in DGP rank in the state.
Mr. Ashthana was on central deputation for quite some time before being appointed as DGP modernisation. He had earlier held many key posts, including that of CRPF IG in charge of the CoBRA unit. He has written several books and his book on 'India's Internal Security: The Actual Concerns' had triggered controversy over some remarks regarding the undercurrents in Kashmir. He is a nuclear physicist and also holds a doctorate. Meanwhile, police sources said that Mr. Asthana, who hails from UP, was preferring to be in New Delhi owing to personal reasons. His cooling off period after central deputation would end in few months time. Hence there are chances that he may seek central deputation again.
