Government prematurely repatriate DIG CBI, to his state cadre

CBI officials said the officer was shifted to his state cadre on his request.

Earlier in the day, in an official order, the government said, "Approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is hereby conveyed for premature repatriation of Tarun Gauba, IPS (UP 2001) , DIG, CBI to his state cadre."

Gauba was looking after the case against then CBI's Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar told , "He has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship University of Minnesota in the United States beginning August this year.

"The officer would be completing maximum allotted seven years tenure at the CBI in October this year. Therefore, since CBI (as per tenure policy cannot retain him beyond October, the officer requested for early repatriation to his home cadre so that he can proceed for the scholarship in the US," Wakankar said.

According to CBI sources, Gauba handled cases such as Dera Sacha Sauda, Vyapam Scam. It was the team of Gauba that gave a clean chit to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Vyapam case in the state.

Gauba was awarded with the President's police medal for meritorious services in 2017 for his investigation into Vyapam scam case.

This is the second major shifting of an officer from the country's premier investigating agency in last one week.

The government on July 5 removed CBI Additional Director M. Nageswar Rao and posted him as Director General Fire Services, Civil Services and Home Guard.

Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was first given charge as interim Director of the CBI after the government in October last year sent CBI Director Alok Verma on leave, divesting him of his powers along with Asthana following a bitter spat between them alleging each other's involvement in corruption.

Rao was again given the charge of the acting CBI chief on February 11, 2019, a day after Verma was removed from the post.

( With inputs from IANS )