Rajni Kant Misra has been appointed Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal

Y.C. Modi, a senior IPS officer who gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of the Gujarat riot cases of 2002, was appointed Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday.

He was part of the special investigation team on the Gujarat riot cases appointed by the Supreme Court when the Prime Minister was the Chief Minister of the State.

He investigated three cases during the Godhra riots — the Naroda Gam, Gulberg Society and Naroda Patiya cases.

He was part of the CBI team that investigated the murder of the former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.

Another SIT member, retired IPS officer R.K. Raghavan, was recently appointed High Commissioner to Cyprus.

Mr. Y.C. Modi’s appointment comes at a time when the NIA has been under attack for giving a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2007 Malegaon blast and going soft on another accused, Swami Aseemanand, who was recently acquitted in the Ajmer blasts for which two former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members were convicted.

The NIA is also investigating the Kashmir terror funding case where separatist leaders have been arrested.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Mr. Y.C, Modi’s appointment, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

He will hold the post till his superannuation on May 31, 2021, the order said.

In an unprecedented move, the committee also approved his appointment as officer on special duty (OSD) in the NIA with immediate effect to ensure a smooth takeover.

Mr. Y.C. Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is now a special director in the CBI.

He will take over from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on October 30, the order said.

Mr. Kumar has been given two extensions.

Another senior IPS officer, Rajni Kant Misra, has been appointed Director-General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the Nepal and Bhutan borders.