Onkar Singh/Rediff

New Delhi, Aug 1: After hours of uncertainty, Central Bureau of Investigation, the country's top investigation agency, finally has a new director.

The government on Thursday night appointed senior IPS officer Ashwani Kumar as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, superseding the agency's Special Director M L Sharma.

Kumar, a 1973 batch IPS officer who is now the DGP of Himachal Pradesh, had earlier served in the premier investigating agency for just under a decade as joint director (policy) will succeed Vijay Shanker who retired as CBI head on Thursday.

When contacted on phone in Shimla, the new CBI director said he was waiting for formal orders to decide when to join.

"I am thankful to God for bestowing upon me a responsibility," Kumar told rediff.com.

Kumar was selected out of a panel of three officers, the other two being Sharma and Karnataka Police Chief R Srikumar.

The announcement of Kumar's appointment as CBI Director came late this evening in the backdrop of the name of Sharma, a 1972 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, doing the rounds for the key post.

Shanker, a 1969 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, relinquished after serving as the CBI head for two years and seven months.