New Delhi: Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Praveen Sinha was elected as a delegate for Asia on the Executive Committee of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) on Wednesday.
Official sources close to news agency PTI said that Sinha, an Indian candidate emerged victorious in a tough election that saw contestants from China, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Jordan vying for two posts in the elite panel.
The elections were held in Istanbul, Turkey during the ongoing 89th INTERPOL General Assembly.
"Today's victory is the result of an intense and well-coordinated election campaign across the world," one of the sources told the news agency.
"Crucial support of friendly countries was sought at bilateral engagements at different levels and Indian embassies and high commissions regularly followed it up with their host governments. Ambassadors and high commissioners in Delhi were similarly reached out," the source added.
Sinha, who was serving as an Additional Director of the investigating agency, was appointed as Special Director in June this year. Earlier, the post was held by Rakesh Asthana.
The post of Special Director is the second senior-most position in the CBI after the Director.
A Gujarat-cadre IPS officer of the 1988 batch, Sinha has served as the agency's acting Director after Rishi Kumar Shukla had retired on February 3. He held the post till Subodh Kumar Jaiswal was appointed as new CBI chief by the high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.