The CBI officer Calcutta High Court had wanted as the head of the team investigating alleged irregularities in school recruitments is not available.

The CBI on Thursday informed Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the high court that IPS officer Akhilesh Singh would not be able to come to Calcutta as he had been promoted to the rank of inspector-general of police and transferred back to Assam.

Singh, a 2003-batch IPS officer of the Assam cadre, was on central deputation during his stint in the CBI, where he had served as deputy inspector-general of police.

He was sent back to the Assam cadre on November 15, a day before Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered that Singh be asked to take charge of the CBI’s special investigation team (SIT) that is probing the alleged irregularities in recruitments in government-aided schools.

The judge had on Wednesday mentioned the need for a DIG-ranked officer to lead the probe. The judge wanted Singh to replace Rajib Mishra, an officer of the rank of ???, as SIT head.

“Singh has been assigned a bigger role and transferred to Assam. There he took charge on November 15. So he will not be available,” CBI counsel Billawdal Bhattacharya submitted in Justice Gangopadhyay’s court.

The lawyer cited the name of another CBI officer of the DIG rank who he said could take charge of the SIT.

But Justice Gangopadhyay asked Bhattacharya to come to the court on Friday with a list of the names of at least three “efficient” officers of the DIG rank. The court will select the one.

Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered the formation of the SIT on June 17 to probe the alleged irregularities in school recruitments.

On Wednesday, while reconstituting the SIT, Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered the CBI to send Singh to Calcutta from Delhi so he could take charge of the SIT within seven days.

Also on Wednesday, the judge had removed two officers from the SIT and included four other officers.

Justice Gangopadhyay expressed his displeasure over the progress of the investigation.

The judge had on Tuesday sought the presence of the current head of the SIT.

Several CBI officers, including current SIT head Rajiv Mishra, were present in the courtroom on Wednesday when the judge ordered the changes.

The judge had said: “I am not at all satisfied with the progress of the investigation. It has become necessary to reconstitute the SIT. The court wanted the investigation to be speeded up. Unnecessary delay will help the persons involved in the racket.”