Former Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha died on Friday in New Delhi, PTI reported. He was 68.

Unidentified officials told PTI that he had tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday night.

More details are awaited.

Sinha was a retired officer of the 1974 batch of the Indian Police Service. He had headed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force and the Railway Protection Force before his appointment as the Central Bureau of Investigation chief in 2012.

Sinha was accused of influencing the investigation in coal scam cases. Last month, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI to file a new status report within four weeks on the probe into the charges of “abuse of official position” by Sinha and the progress made in over 50 coal scam cases.

A year after he took charge as CBI chief, the Supreme Court had described the central agency as a “caged parrot that speaks in its master’s voice” – an assessment that he agreed with, according to NDTV.