Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge as CBI chief

New Delhi, Feb 04: Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, on Monday took charge as the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director.

Shukla took charge at a time when the agency is busy in a turf war with the Kolkata Police which has spiralled into a political slugfest between the Centre and West Bengal Government.

The arrival of 58-year old Shukla, a former DGP of the Madhya Pradesh Police and an Intelligence Bureau veteran, as a full-fledged director is likely to bring some sort of order in the agency as it moves to the Supreme Court to challenge the action of the West Bengal government in ponzi scam cases.

Madhya Pradesh DGP Rishi Kumar Shukla, was appointed as the new CBI Director on February 2. He will take over the charge from M Nageswara Rao, who is the acting director of the agency. The decision was taken during a meeting of the panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had started a dharna on Sunday evening to protest against the alleged highhandedness of the Centre and insults meted out to her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The issues were triggered when a team of CBI officials arrived unannounced at the doors of Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley scam.