Former MP police chief RK Shukla appointed CBI Director

Senior IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla was on Saturday appointed as CBI Director, just four days after he was shifted from the post of Madhya Pradesh DGP by the Kamal Nath government to the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation.

His appointment ends speculation over the prestigious post ever since it fell vacant on January 10 when incumbent Alok Verma was transferred as DG Fire Services.

Shukla, a 1983 batch officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, will have a fixed tenure of two years, according to a decision taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Shukla had taken charge as the Madhya Pradesh police chief in June 2016.

Since the ouster of Verma, M Nageshwar Rao was serving as the interim director.

The new appointment comes at a time when the premier investigative agency has been mired in a major controversy following an open fight between Alok Kumar and former special director Rakesh Asthana.

The fight had prompted the government to intervene and in October both of them were sent on leave.