Kerala DGP Tharakan to be next RAW chief

Kerala's Director General of Police P K Hormese Tharakan was on Tuesday appointed chief of Research and Analysis Wing, the country's external intelligence agency.

Tharakan will succeed C D Sahay, who is retiring on January 31.

Tharakan, an affable and upright officer, served in RAW for over eight years. He earned a name in intelligence circles while serving in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Also read: What's wrong with RAW?

His appointment, however, is likely to raise some eyebrows as he supersedes two officers senior to him in the RAW hierarchy -- Jyoti Sinha and Amar Bhushan.

Bhushan is retiring on January 31, but Sinha has six months to retire. According some sources, Sinha has sought pre-mature retirement.

There were consistent demands for an outsider taking over RAW's reins after the embarrassment the Rabinder Singh episode caused to the agency.

Also read: Why is the US spying on India?

Rabinder Singh, a senior RAW officer, defected to the US in April 2004. He had been under observation for his suspected links with the Central Intelligence Agency when he managed to flee to the US.

M K Narayanan, who was on Tuesday appointed national security advisor, was inquiring into Singh's case.

Reportedly, Narayanan was the biggest votary of a complete overhaul of RAW.

Although most retired RAW officers were keen that an insider be promoted to the top post, even they agree that Tharakan was the best choice among outsiders.

Tharakan, an IPS officer from the 1968 batch, will have six months in the hot seat.