Three names were shortlisted for the post of the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a 90-minute meeting in New Delhi on Monday. Director-General CISF Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, SSB DG Kumar Rajesh Chandra and Special Secretary Home Ministry VSK Kaumudi were the names picked during a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Chief Justice of India N V Ramana.

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The post of CBI director is vacant since the then incumbent Rishi Kumar Shukla retired on February 4 after a two-year stint. The charge for the post was handed to Additional Director Praveen Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, till a formal appointment is made.

Here’s a look at the contenders for the post:

Subodh Kumar Jaiswal

Jaiswal, a 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, is a former Maharashtra director general of police. He is at present the director-general of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). He is the senior-most of those shortlisted. While posted in Maharashtra, he supervised the Elgaar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon violence cases before being transferred to CBI on a central deputation.  He is set to retire from service in September, 2022.

Kumar Rajesh Chandra

Chandra, a 1985-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, is at present posted as the director-general of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). A PG in Economics from JNU in Delhi, Chandra has earlier served in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Special Protection Group, which guards the PM. Chandra will retire from service on December 31, 2021.

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VSK Kaumudi

Kaumudi, a 1986-batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, is posted as the special secretary for internal security in the Home Ministry. He was earlier the chief of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). Early in his career, Kaumudi had a stint with the CBI and had investigated the Bihar fodder scam. He is due to retire in November 2022