Kumar Rajesh Chandra takes over leadership of Sashastra Seema Bal

IPS officer Kumar Rajesh Chandra on Friday took over as the new Director General (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal, a paramilitary force that guards Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan. Chandra, a 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Bihar cadre, took charge from his batch senior S S Deswal who has been holding the charge of SSB DG in an additional capacity since October 31, after the latter was appointed as the chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), that is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had issued orders for appointment of Chandra as SSB chief on January 8. Chandra has been serving as the DG of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under the Union Civil Aviation Ministry in Delhi till now.

The officer, a PG in economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, will retire from service on December 31, 2021. Chandra has earlier served in the Special Protection Group (SPG) that guards the PM, former PM's and their families and has also worked extensively in his cadre state of Bihar. The SSB, with a strength of about 99,000 personnel, has been tasked to guard the 1,751-km Indo-Nepal border since 2001 and the 699-km Indo-Bhutan border since 2004. It is also designated as the lead intelligence gathering agency on these two open borders.

(With inputs from agencies.)