The Centre on Friday appointed Indian Police Service officer SN Shrivastava the Delhi police commissioner, NDTV reported. Shrivastava will take over on March 1, the day after Amulya Patnaik, the current commissioner of police, retires.

Shrivastava is a 1985-batch officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory, or AMGUT cadre. Earlier this week, he was appointed the special commissioner of police (law and order), after being brought in from the Central Reserve Police Force, amid communal violence in North East Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act. At least 39 people have died so far in the violence.

Patnaik had last month been given a one-month extension ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi. However, he has come under criticism for his handling of the riots. The police have been accused of looking the other way and even encouraging the rioters at times.

“People did not believe the [good] intentions of the Delhi Police during the violence,” National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had told NDTV earlier this week. “Even the image of commissioner of Delhi Police was not very good for whatever reasons. But soon Delhi will have a new police commissioner.”

Following his appointment, Shrivastava was asked about action being taken against Aam Aadmi Party Municipal Councillor Tahir Hussain, who has been accused of involvement in the killing of an Intelligence Bureau officer, ANI reported. “We are trying to bring every culprit to justice and we are working on it,” Shrivastava told the media.