West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appointed retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rina Mitra, who was among the top contenders for the post of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director, as the principal internal security advisor to the state government.

Mitra, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, could have become the first woman to head CBI. She was one of the 12 officers shortlisted earlier this month but the day of retirement came a day before the meeting of the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to The Telegraph, a senior government official said that the state home department issued the order to appoint Mitra as the principal adviser on Tuesday but the responsibilities of the newly created post are “yet to be defined”.

Mitra told The Telegraph that she is yet to receive the order and is not aware of the responsibilities yet.

“As per the rules and convention of appointment to the post, I was indeed the senior-most officer fulfilling all the four essential criteria, including experience in CBI and anti-corruption. However, an easily avoidable delay of just one day in the selection process ensured that I was bumped out of the race and no longer in contention,” she wrote in an article published by The Telegraph on 5 February.

Mitra, the first woman IPS officer from West Bengal, was born on 1 September 1959 and grew up at Sanctoria in West Bengal’s Asansol.

Awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999 and the President’s Medal for distinguished Service in 2008, Mitra served in key positions in Madhya Pradesh and the Union Government.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had on 2 February appointed Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, the CBI director.

Shukla’s appointment as new CBI Director is for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office.

Shukla’s appointment came after the high-level selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met twice in past nine days to select a name from a list of over 70 candidates for the investigating agency’s top job.