Senior IPS officer Mahesh Dixit was appointed Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a two-year term from the date he assumes charge, or until further orders, an official order cited by ANI said on June 25, 2026. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the move.
A 1993-batch officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Dixit will succeed incumbent IB chief Tapan Kumar Deka. He is currently serving as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau and is counted among the agency’s most experienced officers.
Dixit’s career includes a key stint as chief of the IB’s Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) in Srinagar, where he oversaw intelligence operations across Jammu, Kashmir and Leh. Media reports say his time in Kashmir covered the period following the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in August 2019, a phase that posed heightened counter-terror and border-security challenges.
Beyond the north, Dixit is reported to have led intelligence efforts tracking Islamist extremist networks in southern India, with operations across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka focused on counter-terrorism and internal security.
He was promoted to Additional Director in the IB in 2022 and elevated in‑situ to the rank of Special Director in September 2024, making him one of the agency’s senior-most officers. As Director, Dixit will head India’s premier domestic intelligence agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs, responsible for counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, internal security and national intelligence coordination.
The appointment comes at a time when the Intelligence Bureau continues to confront evolving threats including terrorism, espionage, radicalisation and cross-border challenges. The details above are drawn from the official order cited by ANI and subsequent media reports.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/india/mahesh-dixit-who-oversaw-key-kashmir-intelligence-operations-named-ib-chief-14026256.html
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Publish Date: 2026-06-26 00:03:00
