New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): Senior IPS officer Y.C. Modi, who was part of a Supreme Court-appointed probe team in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, will be the new chief of the NIA.

The decision was taken on Monday by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet following a Home Ministry proposal.

Modi will succeed Sharad Kumar, who retires on October 30. The designate-Director General will be an Officer on Special Duty with the NIA with immediate effect to ensure a smooth takeover.

He will hold the post till his superannuation on May 31, 2021, according to an order from the Department of Personnel and Training.

A 1984 Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer, Modi takes over the National Investigation Agency at a time when it is probing the funding of separatists and stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based terrorist groups.

He is currently Special Director with the CBI. He was appointed the Additional Director of the CBI in 2015.

Modi was a part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the Gujarat riots cases in August 2010 and remained part of the team till July 2012.

The SIT had cleared Narendra Modi, who at that time was Gujarat's Chief Minister, in the Gulbarg Society massacre case.

Sharad Kumar, an IPS officer of the 1979 batch of Haryana cadre, was appointed the NIA chief on July 30, 2013. He was given two extensions -- the latest on October 23 last year.