New Delhi, Feb 4 (TIWN / IANS) New CBI chief Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge on Monday, a day after the agency's officials clashed with Kolkata Police over the questioning of Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar that has led to a face-off between the West Bengal and central governments.

Shukla, 59, took charge from interim chief M. Nageswara Rao, who was appointed to the post after the unceremonial ouster of CBI Director Alok Verma.

A 1983 batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Shukla took charge on a day the CBI approached the Supreme Court over the Kolkata face-off, alleging its probe into a ponzi scheme scam was being hindered and its officers were being harassed.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has defended the Kolkata Police Commissioner, who has been accused of destroying evidence related to the Saradha chit fund scam.