NCB appoints four new zonal directors

Singh was till now heading NCBs Chandigarh zone.The Delhi zone also has been without a full-time director for about two years.IRS customs and central excise officer of 2010 batch Amanjit Singh, who joined the agency recently, will head the Chandigarh zone.Indian Police Service IPS officer of 2010 batch, Aravindhan P, will head the NCB zone in Chennai.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has appointed full-time heads for its four zones in the country including Mumbai, which was being held in an additional capacity after the tenure of IRS officer Sameer Wankhede ended few months back.

The federal anti-narcotics agency has appointed Amit Fakkad Gawate, an Indian Revenue Service (customs and central excise) officer of the 2008 batch, as the NCB zonal director for Mumbai.

The post was being held in an additional capacity by its Indore zonal director Brijendra Chowdhary after Wankhede's services were put at the disposal of his parent cadre, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), as his extended tenure with the NCB ended in December, 2021.

The Delhi zonal unit will have a full-time zonal director in Gyanendra Kumar Singh. Singh was till now heading NCB's Chandigarh zone.

The Delhi zone also has been without a full-time director for about two years.

IRS (customs and central excise) officer of 2010 batch Amanjit Singh, who joined the agency recently, will head the Chandigarh zone.

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 2010 batch, Aravindhan P, will head the NCB zone in Chennai. He will hold the additional charge of the Bengaluru zone.

The agency has a total of 13 zones in the country including Patna, Kolkata, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jammu and Indore.

The post of NCB zonal directors are largely the officers who join the agency on deputation from the IRS, IPS and central armed police forces (CAPFs) among others.

Vacancies at the crucial post of zonal directors in various cities have been there for varied amounts of time and deputation of officers to the premier agency were fastened after new NCB director general (DG) S N Pradhan took over in November last year.

The NCB is the apex anti-narcotics agency of the country and it probes drugs crimes under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PIT NDPS).