AYODHYA: Former IPS officer Rajesh Pandey and former IAS officer Dinesh Chandra were among the candidates interviewed for the posts of Ram temple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on Wednesday. In all, 16 short-listed candidates were interviewed over two days, 10 on Tuesday and six on Wednesday.In a press release, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra said that it has completed the interview of candidates for the final stage of its search for a CEO, following a multi-stage selection process for which 5,585 applications were received.Apart from Pandey and Chandra, a retired DGP of a neighbouring state was also interviewed on the second day. Pandey has been a celebrated police officer and was the founding member of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) playing a significant role in operations against organised crime and terrorism.With extensive experience in counter-terror operations, he was also known for his expertise in electronic surveillance and mobile phone tracking.During his postings in western UP, Pandey also handled several major crowd-management and law-and-order situations, earning a reputation for his operational experience and field leadership.After retiring from the UP Police, Pandey continued to serve in a security-related role and the UP government appointed him as nodal security officer for the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). He is also the secretary of the trust running Aliganj Hanuman temple.Dinesh Chandra, a 2012 batch IAS officer of the state cadre, has served as the DM of Jaunpur, Bahraich and Kanpur Dehat. He was also posted as the municipal commissioner of Ghaziabad and CDO of Aligarh.
