New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) In a bid to improve interdepartmental synergies in the Central probe agency and avoid festering acrimony between officials, CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla has started holding weekly interactions with his officials.

Held every Friday, the interactions were initiated by Shukla after he took charge as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief on February 4 amid acrimony in the organisation that saw its former top officials engaged in an ugly legal battle, said sources.

A CBI source said that Shukla, a 1983-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre Indian Police Service officer, not only tries to resolve the problems of officials expeditiously, but also helps them with their grievances regarding transfers and postings.

"The idea is to create a healthy work environment that encourages team-building, free communication and mutual trust among the CBI officials," said the source.

The investigation agency was mired in controversy last year following a bitter fight between its then Director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana, then Special Director. Their fight led to many transfers and the agency was virtually divided into two groups.

--IANS rak/rtp/bg