Satya Narayan Pradhan, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) official, has been deputised as Director-General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) till 2024 or until further orders. Despite being the Director General of the National Disaster Response Force, Mr Pradhan, a Jharkhand cadre 1988-batch IPS officer, was now handling additional duty of NCB head (NDRF).
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As NDRF Director-General Atul Karwal, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, was appointed on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) nominated Mr Pradhan as Director-General of NCB on a full-time basis in a late Wednesday decision.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) later directed the concerned wing to approve Mr Pradhan’s deputation to the post of Director-General, NCB, According to the MHA, “with effect from his assumption of charge of the office and until his retirement on 2024, or until further orders, whichever is sooner,”
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The MHA further urged that Mr Pradhan be relieved of his duties as NDRF Director-General immediately so that he can begin his new job. Mr Pradhan’s full-time appointment in the main post comes at a time when the anti-drug agency is embroiled in a scandal over a narcotics bust case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.
