Government appointed Jaya Bahadur Chand as the new Inspector General of Police on Sunday.

The appointment comes after a long delay and intense tug-of-war among political leaders to pick the new police chief.

Minister for Water Supply & Sanitation Prem Bahadur Singh confirmed Chand's appointment as the new police chief by a Cabinet meeting this morning.

The meeting also appointed Singha Bahadur Shrestha as the new chief of Armed Police Force.

Chand was third on seniority basis behind DIG Nawaraj Silwal and DIG Prakash Aryal. Silwal was the senior most candidate to take over the Nepal Police helm.

The appointment of new police chief was reportedly delayed due to differences between PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, DPM Bimalendra Nidhi and Nepali Congress Chief Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Deuba is learnt to have pressed Nidhi, who was for appointing DIG Silwal as the new police chief, to pick Chand as new chief. PM Dahal had also wanted to let DIG Silwal lead Nepal Police as he was the senior most officer among the contenders.