Ashok Chaturvedi will be the new chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). An officer of the Research and Analysis Service (RAS), Chaturvedi was the front-runner for the post.

Others whose names had come up over the past few weeks included senior RAW officer Amber Sen and Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul. What seems to have tipped the scales in his favour was the fact that he was an insider and was number two in the organisation. He will succeed PK Hormese Tharakan, who retires on January 31. Chaturvedi will have a two-year tenure as the RAW chief.

He was also a part of the Indian Police Service (IPS) as a 1970-batch officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre before joining the RAS.

Chaturvedi, who has been handling Bangladesh and Nepal, has also served in the United Kingdom and Canada besides a stint in Jammu and Kashmir. The appointment comes close on the heels of PC Halder taking over as director of the Intelligence Bureau.