Patna: Krishna Swaroop Dwivedi, an IPS officer who survived the wrath of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi after the Bhagalpur riots of 1989, will be Bihar's next director-general of police.

Dwivedi's tenure as Bhagalpur SP was marked by the infamous communal riots in 1989 in which around 1,000 persons, the majority of them Muslims, were killed.

The imminent elevation of Dwivedi from director-general (training) prompted the Opposition to allege that chief minister Nitish Kumar had buckled under ally BJP's pressure. The BJP said appointing the DGP was the chief minister's prerogative.

Dwivedi, a 1984 batch officer, will take over from Pramod Kumar Thakur, who retires on Wednesday.

On October 26, 1989, Rajiv had visited Bhagalpur town and told then chief minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha to transfer Dwivedi immediately.

Sinha, in his memoir Meri Yaden, Meri Bhoolein, wrote that Dwivedi was shifted at the behest of the then Prime Minister. However, the order was rescinded after strong protests by residents. Later, a commission of inquiry indicted Dwivedi for the police's partisan role. But in due course, Dwivedi was given a clean chit.

RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha said Dwivedi's selection was an example of Nitish's surrender to the RSS. "This is a shock to many who have seen the barbaric Bhagalpur riots of 1989. Contemporary accounts bear ample witness to his partisan role. Appointment of such a person shall further erode the faith of people and communities on the margins. This seems to be a decision dictated by the likes and dislikes of the RSS," Jha said.

The BJP rebutted the allegation. "The RJD is afraid of him (Dwivedi) because he is considered a tough officer and will not tolerate people indulging in unlawful activities. Needless to say who such people are," BJP state president Nityanand Rai said.