YC Modi to head National Investigation Agency: Senior IPS officer had probed 2002 Gujarat riots

Senior IPS officer YC Modi, who was part of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that probed the 2002 Gujarat riot cases, has been appointed as the new Director-General of National Investigation Agency (NIA). Modi will take over from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on 30 October. NIA, a federal probe agency, is responsible for probing terrorism and terror-financing related cases. Sharad Kumar had been the chief of NIA since 30 July , 2013; he was given two extensions — the latest on 23 October last year. [caption id=“attachment_4055823” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of YC Modi (extreme left) at a CBI event attended by Devendra Fadnavis. (Image Courtesy: cbi.nic.in)[/caption] Modi’s appointment as director-general of the NIA was approved by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). He will hold the post till his superannuation, ie 31 May, 2021. ACC has also approved the appointment of Modi as officer on special duty (OSD) in NIA with immediate effect to ensure a smooth takeover. Between August 2010 and July 2012, Modi had been part of the SIT appointed by the Supreme Court for probing the riots cases from 2002. He was named the Additional Director of the CBI in 2015, reported Outlook. Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is at present special director in the CBI. He investigated the three most important cases involving the post-Godhra riots: Gulberg Society, Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam. According to Zee News, Modi has also been the additional director general of police in Shillong. NIA is currently investigating  the allegations that separatists leaders were receiving funds from Pakistan and using the money to fuel unrest in Kashmir. Recently, the agency conducted several raids in the Valley in connection with the terror funding. The probe agency had conducted searches in places in the state besides Haryana and the national capital. The ongoing NIA crackdown is the first time since the rise of militancy in the early 1990s that a central probe agency conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups.   With inputs from PTI