Ravi Sinha, a 1988-batch IPS officer, will take over as Research & Analysis Wing chief. The 59-year-old Chhattisgarh cadre officer’s name was cleared by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet led by PM Modi, and he will be at the helm of India’s external intelligence agency for 2 years.
Sinha, who is credited with infusing modern technology in the field of intelligence collection and is known to have a grip on cross-border operations. He will replace Samant Goel, who ends his term on June 30.
Sinha is currently serving as the special secretary at the cabinet secretariat and was the second-in-command at the agency. An alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, Sinha belongs to Bhojpur in Bihar. He has been on central deputation since 2002, most of which has been spent with the agencies.
He has been the head of operational division in R&AW for the last seven years, closely supervising key actions abroad, sources said. Incidentally, Sinha’s batchmate, Tapan Deka, who was the head of operations in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for considerable number of years, is now heading the IB. “With the two appointments, the Modi government has made it evident that operation capability of the intelligence agencies was of paramount significance for this regime,” a senior government official said.