Atul, an IPS officer of 1976 batch belonging to the UP cadre, has been short-listed for the post of CBI director. The chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) panel sprang a surprise by including Atul’s name.

The two other front runners, VK Gupta, special director, CBI and Neeraj Kumar, commissioner of police, Delhi, have been kept out of the list. The big fight is now among Atul, Ranjit Sinha, DG, ITBP and Sharad Sinha, director, National Investigation Agency.

The list of three officers was short-listed by a panel headed by chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar. The other members of the high powered select committee include cabinet secretary Ajit Seth, secretary personnel and outgoing director of the CBI AP Singh. Singh is retiring on November 30. The search for his successor is getting rather tough.

Initially, there were 61 aspirants and the selection committee brought it down to six and now, it picked up three in the following order; Ranjit Kumar Sinha (1974, Bihar), Sharad Sinha (1975, Haryana) and Atul (1976, UP).

Delhi top cop Neeraj was reportedly told by the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde that he was required to serve his tenure in Delhi as the new commissioner. But who among the three will become the CBI director is still a mystery because it will be decided by prime minister Manmohan Singh.