NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday announced the appointment of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Mahesh Dixit as the new chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared his appointment and he will replace Tapan Kumar Deka, who has been holding the post for the past four years.
Dixit, a 1993-batch IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, has currently been serving as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau and commands extensive experience as head of State Intelligence Bureau in Jammu and Kashmir.
The IB is the country's primary internal security and counter-intelligence agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) in an order said, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mahesh Dixit, IPS (AP:93), Special Director, Intelligence Bureau, as Director, Intelligence Bureau vice Tapan Kumar Deka, IPS (HP-88) for a tenure of two years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, by granting extension in service under the provision of FR 56(d) and Rule 16 (1A) of All India Services (Death Cum Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958.” Dixit was due to retire in August 2027.
Deka was first appointed to the post in 2022 for a two-year fixed tenure and then his services in the post were extended twice till June 2026.
Officials, who are privy to the process leading to the appointment of Dixit, said, the initial thought was to give extension to Deka, but he, after serving four years in the post, had expressed his unwillingness to continue further.
Dixit, a medical doctor by education, has led the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) desk and has also served in Nagaland and Bihar.
He was Deputy Director of IB in J&K from 2009-12 and from 2012-15, he was posted in Nagaland. He took charge of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of J&K in 2020 and served there till 2024, overseeing the security preparedness and intelligence-based operations post revocation of Article 370 in the erstwhile State.
