In this otherwise nondescript and tiny Borenarasapur village in Mangapet mandal, residents burst into joy in the early hours of Wednesday. For one of own their lads, Mannem Nagewara Rao, has been appointed the director of India’s premier investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), albeit an interim one.
The joy was writ large on their faces and they went around sharing the news of how their village boy scaled such heights in his career. “He wanted to be a police officer since his childhood, and he achieved it,” said his nephew Dulipala Poornachandra Rao.
A long walk
Bore Narasapur is a remote village in the erstwhile Warangal district sans any facilities. As a child, Mr. Mannem walked to his school at Mangapet, a km away. Later, he attended the Thimmampet Zilla Parishad High School five km away, again on foot.
In fact, he is the second person from the area to get the position of CBI director. Earlier, K. Vijayarama Rao of Ramannagudem village in Eturunagaram mandal had the distinction of heading the CBI in 1993 when P.V. Narasimha Rao was India’s Prime Minister.
According to Dulipala Sambasiva Rao, Mr. Mannem’s maternal uncle, the latter did his Intermediate from AVV College, Warangal, and then studied B.Sc (BZC) with industrial chemistry as specialisation at CKM College, Warangal. After his postgraduation at Osmania University, he registered for a Ph.D, during which time he cracked the Civil Services examination. He joined the Indian Police Service and was allotted Odisha cadre in 1986.
“He last came here five years ago when his mother passed away. Due to work pressure, he visits the village less frequently. Mr. Rao has some agriculture land and one dilapidated house here in Borenarasapur,” Mr. Dulipala explained.
Mr. Mannem’s family members are settled elsewhere, but his relatives are still in the village who are dependent on farming. “Rao also ploughed land during his youth,” said Mannem Rama Rao, his uncle.
After serving in both Chhattisgarh and Odisha as Superintendent of Police in various districts, Mr. Mannem was the Additional Director General of Odisha police until April 2016. Prior to that, he also headed various departments. He joined the CBI in 2016 and has been serving as Joint Director since then.