NEW DELHI: The Centre is learnt to be considering a rare third consecutive extension in service for Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka, which sources said reflects the leadership’s emphasis on continuity in the country’s internal security architecture.
If approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Deka, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, will continue beyond June 30, the date on which his current tenure ends.
The move would make him the longest-serving chief of India’s premier internal intelligence agency. Sources in the top bureaucracy said the government continues to repose “exceptional trust” in Deka’s handling of sensitive counter-terrorism operations and internal security challenges, particularly in J&K and the Northeast.
Deka took charge as the IB Director on July 1, 2022, for an initial fixed tenure of two years. Since then, he has already received two successive one-year extensions -- first till June 2025 and later till June this year. A third extension, if it gets the go-ahead, would underscore the Centre’s preference for operational continuity amid an evolving security landscape across the country.
Regarded within intelligence and security circles as a seasoned “crisis manager”, Deka is known for his deep operational experience and low-profile approach. Before heading the IB, he had led the agency’s operations wing for more than two decades and played a key role in several high-stakes counter-terror initiatives.
Deka was closely involved in counter-terror operations during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 and later he spearheaded intelligence operations against the Indian Mujahideen, the terror outfit linked to a series of bombings and extremist activities across the country during the 2000s.
Deka is also considered an expert on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and has long served as one of the government’s principal intelligence hands on the Union territory. His experience in handling insurgency and radicalisation-related matters has made him a key figure in India’s domestic security establishment, sources said.
In 2019, he was deputed to his home state of Assam to help manage the law-and-order situation following widespread protests and violence triggered by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The sources said the government views Deka’s institutional knowledge and operational oversight as critical at a time of persistent internal and regional security challenges.
Final decision to be taken closer to end of tenure
Sources said the government views Deka’s institutional knowledge and operational oversight as critical at a time of persistent internal and regional security challenges. They said the final decision on the next IB Director is likely to be taken closer to the end of Deka’s tenure.
