Retd IAS officer appointed chief of technical intel agency

Former telecom secretary Rentala Chandrasekhar on Monday was appointed as the head of the country’s technical intelligence agency, NTRO, becoming the first IAS officer to be appointed to a key post in the security establishment.

Former telecom secretary Rentala Chandrasekhar on Monday was appointed as the head of the country’s technical intelligence agency, NTRO, becoming the first IAS officer to be appointed to a key post in the security establishment.

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Sources said Chandrasekhar had been given a mandate to put the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) back on the rails. A tug of war between the Indian Police Service, Research & Analysis Wing and scientists had resulted in delays in appointing a full-time head.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam had drawn up the road map for NTRO in 2001. It was set up as an independent body in 2004 to provide technical intelligence such as satellite imageries, data from UAVs, as well as international electronic surveillance to other security agencies.