New Delhi, June 26: Senior IPS officers Arvind Kumar and Samant Goel are set to head the country's top intelligence agencies -- Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) respectively. Samant Goel, Balakot Air Strikes Planner, Becomes New R&AW Chief; Arvinda Kumar, Naxal Extremism Expert, Gets Appointed IB Director.

According to informed sources, the government has given the go ahead for their appointments with Home Minister Amit Shah signing the file which is now with the Prime Minister's Office.

Goel will replace Anil Dhamsana as the R&AW chief and Arvind Kumar will succeed Rajiv Jain in IB. Both officers, of the 1984 batch, will assume charge on June 30, the sources said. Arvind Kumar is considered to be an expert on Kashmir and is a Special Director Kashmir. He was also involved in tackling Left Wing Extremism at IB. There Was No Intelligence Failure in the Pulwama Attack, Says G Kishan Reddy in Parliament

Goel was instrumental in planning the February 2019 Balakot air strike in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and also the 2016 surgical strikes following the Uri terror attack.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2019 04:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).