New Delhi: Rishi Kumar Shukla who was appointed as the Central Bureau of Investigation  director  on Saturday took charge of his duties on Monday. Shukla, former Madhya Pradesh Police chief, was appointed by the Centre as the new CBI chief on Saturday. His appointment came weeks after the removal of Alok Kumar Verma from the premier investigative agency’s top post, which sparked a big controversy in the political circles.


The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Kumar Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fued with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer and former CBI special director Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had levied corruption charged against each other.

Shukla, a 1983 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, will have a fixed tenure of two years, an order issued by Personnel Ministry said.

He is at present working as the chairman of Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation in Bhopal after being removed from the post of director general of Madhya Pradesh Police a few days ago by the Congress government in the state. Shukla will take charge from M Nageshwara Rao, who is working as the interim chief of the probe agency following ouster of Verma.