The Centre on Friday shifted Additional Director of Central Bureau of Investigation Vijay Shankar and appointed him as the first Director General of National Emergency Response Force.

An 1969 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Shankar, who had handled investigation into Bofors payoff case, will also hold the charge of civil defence, which was earlier held by Director-General of Sashastra Seema Bal Himanshu Kumar, official sources said.

Though it was not immediately clear about the composition of the NERF, the sources said the force was likely to consist of specially-trained battalions drawn from Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force and other central para-military Forces.

The NERF was formed by the Centre to deal with natural calamities like cyclone, drought, flood, earthquake and even tsunami.

During his tenure in the CBI, he was looking after Economic Offences Wing, Anti-Corruption and Special Crimes.
He carried out successful investigations into the case of Bilkis Yakub's gang rape during Gujarat riots, extradition proceedings against Abu Salem, Haren Pandya murder case and the Unit Trust of India scam.

He served as the Inspector-General of the BSF in Kashmir at the peak of militancy. He also has the experience of fighting Sikh militants in Punjab.

The 55-year-old officer also served in various capacities in the Uttar Pradesh police.