New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday cleared the names of two senior IPS officers as chief of country’s two premiere intelligence agencies.
While Samant Kumar Goel will be new Secretary of external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Arvind Jain has been appointed as next Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Both officers are expected to take charge on July 1 with a fixed two-year tenure.
While Mr Kumar will replace Rajiv Jain in the IB, Mr Goel will take charge from the outgoing RAW chief Anil K. Dasmana. Earlier both Mr Jain and Mr Dasmana were given a six-month extension in December last year largely on account of the Lok Sabha elections. They both were appointed in 2016.
Mr Kumar, 59, is a 1984 batch IPS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre and is presently posted as the Special Director in the IB, virtually being the number two officer in the agency. He has been with the IB since August 1991 and has also been posted at the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Russia.
He is considered to be an expert on issues of internal security, particularly the situation in Kashmir and Naxal violence. The new IB chief is also a recipient of the President Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
On the other hand Mr Goel is an IPS officer of the 1984 batch from the Punjab cadre and is presently posted as Special Secretary in the RAW.
Sources said the officer played a crucial role to plan the aerial strike in Balakot following the Pulwama terror attack and the surgical strikes in wake of the Uri terror incident. The new RAW chief is said to be very experienced in planning operations and intelligence gathering. Mr Goel was also responsible for the Punjab chief minister’s security.
