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Senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta is NIA top boss

Gupta will hold the post of NIA chief till March 31, 2024, that is the date of his retirement or till further orders, whichever comes earlier

SNS | New Delhi | June 23, 2022 8:45 pm

Senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta is NIA top boss

Former Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta was on Thursday appointed as the new Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an anti-terror probe agency formed after the 26/11 attack in Mumbai.

According to an official order issued by the Personnel Ministry, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared the name of Gupta, a 1987-batch IPS officer from Punjab, for the top NIA post.

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According to the order, Gupta will hold the post of NIA chief till March 31, 2024, that is the date of his retirement or till further orders, whichever comes earlier.

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Having a Master’s degree in police administration, Gupta has held the position of Director General of Punjab Police in 2019 and served at the post for two years and seven months.

He has also held the post of Director General of Police, Intelligence, Punjab, which involved the direct supervision of the Punjab State Intelligence Wing, State Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU).

An experienced and distinguished officer, Gupta earlier had an eight-year stint on central deputation from June 2004 to July 2012 during which he held sensitive assignments including as the head of the Intelligence Bureau unit which looked after the security of VVIPs.

Gupta was decorated with two police gallantry medals in 1992 and 1994.

In another order, Swagat Das, an IPS officer of 1987-batch and at present posted as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry, a post that had fallen vacant on June 14 last after V S K Kamudi was appointed as Secretary (Security). According to the order, Das, who is from Chhatisgarh cadre, will continue on the post till the date of his superannuation on November 30, 2024, or any order before that.

 

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The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, granted bail to M K Nasar, one of the individuals convicted by the special NIA court last year in the case of chopping the hands of Professor T J Joseph in 2010. A division bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice P V Balakrishnan suspended Nasar’s sentence and granted conditional bail to him after considering his appeal against the NIA court’s conviction in the case Considering the prolonged detention and citing the potential for trial delays, the court suspended Nasar’s sentence and granted conditional bail, taking into account that some co-accused with similar allegations had already been released after serving shorter terms. The court noted that he had already spent nine years in jail and that delays in resolving appeals could justify suspending a convict’s prison term. It also observed that other accused in the case had received lesser sentences and had already been released after serving their terms. “The applicant has been undergoing incarceration, at the pre-conviction and post-conviction phases, for over 9 years. Furthermore, the fact that the accused facing the same allegations were earlier imposed a lesser term of imprisonment and have been released after having undergone the sentence is a factor that cannot be ignored. Additionally, the appeals filed by the NIA against the findings of the learned Sessions Judge are being considered in separate appeals, which have not yet been taken up. “There is also the likelihood of delay, as the prime accused has surrendered, and the learned Sessions Judge may have to take up the trial and dispose of it in accordance with the law and some of the original records may be required for that purpose. In view of these facts and circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that the sentence imposed on the applicant can be suspended pending the consideration of the appeal.” The court said The court, however, imposed strict conditions for Nasar’s bail. He is not supposed to provide a bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties, refrain from leaving the country without the court’s permission, avoid interfering with the trial or witnesses, and not commit similar offences while on bail The gruesome incident dates back to July 4, 2010, when Joseph, a professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, was returning from Sunday mass with his family, members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) attacked him, allegedly in retaliation for a question paper he set, which contained a passage that they claimed insulted Prophet Mohammed was derogatory. His right hand was chopped off in this attack. Nasar was accused of playing a critical role in the attack. Investigations revealed his involvement in recruiting gang members, assigning specific tasks, collecting funds, procuring communication devices, and maintaining communication links with key conspirators.

The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, granted bail to M K Nasar, one of the individuals convicted by the special NIA court last year in the case of chopping the hands of Professor T J Joseph in 2010.