New NIA chief, YC Modi is at present a special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation.
YC Modi, an IPS officer who was part of a Special Investigation Team that inquired into the 2002 Gujarat riots, will head the country's top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The Indian Police Service (IPS) officer had been named Director General of the agency by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the government.
Mr Modi will hold the post till May 31, 2021. The government says he will take charge as Officer on Special Duty in the NIA immediately to ensure a smooth takeover.
A 1984 batch officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Mr Modi is at present a special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In CBI, he has handled the
Sheena Bora murder case which saw the arrest of high profile media tycoons Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. He will take over from Sharad Kumar, who completes his tenure on October 30.
Mr Kumar was appointed chief of the NIA in July 2013 and was given two extensions.
In October, he was given a one-year extension, apparently to help the agency complete some important investigations linked to the Pathankot terror case, the terror strikes in
Kashmir, the Burdwan blast and the Samjhauta blast cases.
Mr Modi, along with RK Raghavan, were members of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that ruled out the involvement of then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the riots that swept the state in 2002, leaving 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. Their report was accepted by the top court in 2013.
Mr Raghavan was sent on a high profile political assignment as High Commissioner to Cyprus last month.