Agartala, Dec 28 (IANS): Former Tripura Chief Secretary under previous Left Front Government Radha Krishna Mathur would be the Advisor of Tripura's BJP Chief Minister Biplob Kumar Deb, an official said on Friday.

According to an official of the Chief Minister's secretariat, Matur would replace Bhai Vijay Chhibber, a retired IAS officer and ex-Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor of the Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.

Recently Chhibber, a Manipur-Tripura cadre 1978 batch IAS officer, quit his post and senior officials of the Tripura civil secretariat remained tight-lipped about why he stepped down.

The official said that Mathur, a 1977 batch Tripura-Manipur cadre IAS officer, as new advisor to the Chief Minister would enjoy the status of a cabinet minister.

As Chief Secretary of Tripura for three years from December 2003 under former Left Front government's Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Mathur was the former Defence Secretary and Chief Information Commissioner of India.