Former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra appointed CRPF DG

As anticipated earlier, former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra, who is posted as the Special Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, has been appointed as the Director General of CRPF. The post was lying vacant since November 30 following the retirement of Dilip Trivedi.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement in this regard. Prakash Mishra, a 1977-batch IPS officer from Odisha cadre, was earlier considered for the post of CBI Director, but failed to get the final nod.

Prakash Mishra, who is being credited of curbing the Maoist menace in Odisha during his tenure as Odisha DGP, later fell out with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his government. His departure from Odisha was full of controversy and the state government recently initiated a vigilance inquiry against him, which is seen as a vendetta politics. The matter is sub-judice in the Orissa High Court.

It is believed that Prakash Mishra will play a key role in the anti-Maoist operation across the country and prove his mettle in the months to come. Prakash Mishra will take over on Monday (December 22) and continue on this post till February 2016.

According to Shri Prakash Mishra’s elder brother and retd. bureaucrat Shri Prasanna Mishra, Shri Braja Bihari Mishra, IPS, was the first officer from Odisha to be the DG of CRPF in March 1973. He was also the third DG of the CRPF. After 41 years, another IPS officer of the Odisha cadre, Prakash Mishra becomes DG of CRPF, which is a proud moment for the state. Then CM Nandini Satpathy had described Braja Bihari Mishra’s appointment as an honour for Odisha.