Odisha cadre IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao takes charge as interim CBI chief

New Delhi: Odisha cadre IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao took charge as the interim chief of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today.

His appointment came after a spat between former Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana who were sent on leave.

The prime minister-led appointments committee in an order Tuesday night had given charge of director to  Rao with immediate effect, a government order said.

The order implies that the government has sidelined all the three additional directors in the agency's hierarchy, including A K Sharma, whose name had figured in the complaint by Asthana.

Rao, who was the Joint Director, is a 1986 batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre and hails from Warangal district of Telangana.

There are reports that the CBI Headquarters has been sealed and neither officials nor outsiders are being allowed to enter the building as a team of officers is inside, sources said.

As per reports, Rao was praised for his investigation into coal smuggling cases in Talcher. Besides, he is the first one in Odisha who sought help of DNA fingerprinting to probe rape cases.

He also held the position as Additional Director General of Police (Railways) earlier.

(With inputs from PTI)