New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) A P Singh, special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was Tuesday appointed the new chief of the agency that is in the spotlight for its probes into several high-profile corruption scandals.

A.P. Singh, 58, a 1974-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Jharkhand cadre, will succeed Ashwani Kumar, who retired Tuesday after two years and four months in the post. He will have a
two-year tenure.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tuesday approved the name of A.P. Singh as the new CBI head, an official said.

A.P. Singh has previously served as additional director general of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF). He is a recipient of the Indian Police Medal and the President's Police Medal.

He will be heading the premier investigating agency when it is investigating several politically significant scams.

These include the 2G spectrum allotment scandal that forced A. Raja to step down as communications minister, the alleged wrongdoing by Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi in the organisation of the Commonwealth Games and Mumbai's Adarsh housing society scam, which involves several senior former army officers and resulted in the resignation of Ashok Chavan as the Maharashtra chief minister.