Rakesh Asthana, a senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, was appointed as the Commissioner of Delhi Police on Tuesday.

According to a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order, Asthana, currently serving as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF), will join as the Delhi Police Commissioner with immediate effect.

The appointment of Asthana to the post came just days before his superannuate on July 31.

He will have a tenure of one year.

This is one of the very few instances when an IPS officer outside of the AGMUT cadre has been appointed as the Delhi Police chief.

Usually, an officer belonging to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre is appointed to the post.

Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, had served as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his stint in the CBI, he was engaged in an unsavoury spat with the then CBI Director Alok Verma.