Former CBI Director RK Raghavan Named Indian Envoy to Cyprus

Usually, IFS officers are appointed as high commissioners, but Raghavan’s appointment was NDA’s decision.

Former director of CBI, RK Raghavan, who headed the SIT during the Gujarat riots in 2002, has been appointed the Indian high Commissioner to Cyprus.

“He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the MEA said on 30 August.

Usually, officers in the Indian Foreign Services are appointed as high commissioners or any other position at the consulate level, but Raghavan who is not associated with the IFS was appointed by the NDA government. Earlier in 2015, the government had appointed Mumbai police commissioner Ahmed Javed as India’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Raghavan, who spearheaded the investigations into the Gujarat Riots, had cleared the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi of any involvement in the riots. In April 2017, the SC allowed Raghavan to step down as the head of the Special Investigation Team.

RK Raghavan, 76, is credited for setting up India’s first cyber crime investigation cell. Some of the most high profile investigations headed by him were the corruption cases against AIADMK’s deceased leader J Jayalalithaa, the Gulbarga Society Massacre, rape and murder case of law student Priyadarshini Mattoo and Hansie Cronje’s match fixing in South Africa's ODIs against India.

Raghavan holds an MA in Politics and Public Administration from Madras University, an MS in Criminal Justice from Temple University in Philadelphia and a PhD in Political Science. He was also a Visiting Fellow at Rutgers University and Harvard Law School.

He was the director-general of Tamil Nadu's State Vigilance Directorate for six years from 1993 to 1999 and became the 19th CBI director in 1999.

Raghavan is a recipient of the Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

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