The Centre on Wednesday appointed senior IPS officer from Gujarat cadre Vivek Srivastava as Inspector General in the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) which guards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some former PMs and their immediate family members.
Srivastava, a 1989-batch IPS officer, will be the senior-most IPS officer in the elite force. Srivastava, at present a Joint Director in Intelligence Bureau, was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by the PM. Srivastava’s term with SPG is being treated as a deputation from the Intelligence Bureau so that, upon completion of his term, he can return to the covert agency.
Srivastava was the head of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau in Patna last year when Modi’s rally in the Bihar capital was attacked by banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). He was also involved in the operation leading to the arrest of Yaseen Bhatkal, one of the founder members of IM.
SPG was headless after K Durga Prasad, a 1981-batch Andhra Pradesh batch IPS officer, was moved out on November 25.