Kathmandu:
The director of the Special Protection Group, or SPG, K Durga Prasad, has said the order for his removal is routine, but he was not aware of it.
"I wasn't aware of the order when I first heard about it, but I was not surprised. It was expected. There is nothing controversial about it," Mr Prasad told NDTV today.
"The order has not officially come to me," added the SPG chief, who is currently in Nepal as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's entourage for the SAARC Summit.
Mr Prasad's tenure had ended on November 2. SS Chaturvedi, who will be the interim chief of the SPG till a successor is appointed, is also in Kathmandu.
A 1981 batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Mr Prasad was appointed in November 2011 as the SPG Director. His name was cleared by the appointment committee headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Besides the Prime Minister, the Special Protection Group guards former Prime Ministers and their immediate family.