New Delhi, After taking over the reins of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ashwini Kumar Saturday called for police forces of all states to work jointly with the central investigating agency to combat terrorism in India.

“The prime minister has suggested that a joint working mechanism, intelligence sharing, between the CBI and state police is required,” Kumar said here Saturday after taking over.

The new CBI chief also expressed concern over the declining standards of people coming from other state organisations to join the agency.

“People have been joining the CBI from other organisations, but they do not have the requisite expertise to handle crime cases. The standard of people joining from other organisations is declining,” Kumar told reporters here.

The 1973 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said the agency was fully equipped to take on new challenges.

Regarding a huge backlog of cases with the CBI, he said: "It is a government agency and it cannot say no to any state government if a case is transferred to it."

He, however, said only cases that have inter-state or international ramifications should be referred to the agency.

Kumar has worked with the CBI as joint director and later as additional director. He also had a stint with the elite Special Protection Group, the agency responsible for the protection of the incumbent and former prime ministers and their families.

Kumar also said the CBI would continue to seek extradition of the India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim. The CBI has been claiming that Dawood, the alleged mastermind of the 1992 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, has been hiding in Pakistan.

Kumar's appointment as the CBI director superseding the agency's special director M.L. Sharma has triggered a controversy.

Sharma, who was widely tipped to be the next chief of the agency, went on indefinite leave Friday.

Sharma, 59, an officer of the 1972 IPS batch, has served in the CBI for over two decades and was one of the three people recommended to head the country's premier investigating agency.

As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the post must have a mandatory tenure of two years. Sharma is currently left with only 10 months of service.

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