NEW DELHI: Rajni Kant Mishra, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is likely to be the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief, sources said on Saturday. Mishra, who is currently serving as the Director General (DG) of Border Security Force (BSF), is retiring in August, 2019.

Two other Senior IPS officers of 1984 batch, Javeed Ahmed and S S Deswal were also among the top contenders for the coveted post but Mishra’s name has been finalised, sources added.

Mishra, 59, a native of Patna in Bihar, joined the BSF as Inspector General in 2012. He was appointed as Additional Director General of the BSF in November 2014. In September last year, Mishra was made the chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Later, he was elevated to Special Director General rank in the BSF.

The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. M Nageswara Rao has been working as the interim CBI chief after Verma's ouster.

On Friday, the Supreme Court said it was "averse" to the arrangement of an interim CBI director and the Centre should "immediately" appoint a regular chief of the probe agency. The post of CBI director is "sensitive" and "important", and it is not good to keep an interim director of the agency for longer period, the top court observed and sought to know as to why the government has not made the appointment yet.

Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director by the PM-led panel, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards -- a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 years age of superannuation on July 31, 2017. He had taken over as the CBI chief on February 1, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure that ended Thursday.