With Tapan Deka taking over as IB chief, hunt on for suitable assignments for four superseded officials

New Delhi: The search is on for the next assignments for four senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of 1988 batch who were superseded in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) when Tapan Kumar Deka took over as director of the domestic intelligence agency.

Government sources say few of assignments have been identified and the process of transferring them to new posts can begin earlier than expected.

"One vacancy is likely to emerge soon in the National Human Rights Commission, where the government is not very happy with the performance of the incumbent officer. He is likely to be repatriated back to his parent cadre. And one of the superseded officers in the IB can be sent there," said the government source. 

The second assignment that is likely to emerge is in the National Technical Research Organisation or NTRO (the agency that gathers spatial intelligence) where the post of the advisor (the number two position) is falling vacant in November this year and one of the superseded officer is likely to be sent there.

The current advisor in NTRO, Pradeep Kapoor, who is an Odisha cadre IPS officer of 1986 batch, will retire by November end but before that, the two-year tenure of AK Dhasmana, the incumbent chief of NTRO is ending in September. If he is not given an extension (till he attains the age of 65 years), Kapoor could be in the race to succeed him as well. 

CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh is also retiring on September 30 but sources say National Disaster Response Force chief Atul Karwal is most likely to succeed him. 

"If Karwal is made the DG of CRPF, where he has worked earlier as well, then there would be a vacancy in the NDRF, therefore one of the IB officials can be sent there," added the source.

There is also talk of sending one of the superseded officers back to parent cadre where at least he would not be reporting to a junior officer. 

"All the superseded officers have been assured that they will be suitably accommodated. If the new DIB has to settle down in his job, these officers cannot remain in the IB. Therefore they have to be sent out of the IB sooner than later," added the source.

The four superseded officers are - Manoj Yadava, Anish Dayal Singh, Amitabh Ranjan and Manoj Lal. 

Manmohan Singh, presently posted in Chandigarh, is the fifth officer belonging to 1988 batch serving in the IB at the moment but he is not senior to Deka and would be the first one to retire early next year.