Government extends Sharad Kumar’s tenure as NIA director general by one year

The government on Friday decided to retain NIA chief Sharad Kumar for another year, with the appointments committee of the cabinet clearing his re-appointment till October 31 next year.

The government on Friday decided to retain NIA chief Sharad Kumar for another year, with the appointments committee of the cabinet clearing his reappointment till October 31 next year.

Sharad Kumar, a 1979-batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, was appointed chief of the NIA on July 30, 2015. (HT File Photo)

“I am thankful to the government for entrusting me with the responsibility of steering the NIA for another year,” Kumar said. “The NIA has become a benchmark for credible anti-terror probes that can withstand international scrutiny. It is all because of the team of talented officers we have here.

“I am fortunate to be the part of the evolving journey of the agency for the last three years,” Kumar said.

Kumar, a 1979-batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, was appointed chief of the federal anti-terror agency on July 30, 2015. After his retirement from service on October 31, 2015, the government re-employed him on a contract basis for a year.

A government statement said the appointments committee of the cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with home minister Rajnath Singh as a member, approved the reappointment of Kumar as the director general of the NIA for a period of one year from November 1, 2016.

During Kumar’s tenure, the NIA completed the probe into the 2008 Malegaon blast and trial in sensitive Hindu terror cases such as the Samjhauta Express blasts, and the Dargah Ajmer Sharif (both in 2007) is in the final stage now.

The agency is also set to file a charge-sheet in the Pathankot airbase attack case, and is now probing the attacks on the army camps in Uri and Handwara.

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