Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon, who was the commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps till recently, has been appointed as the director general of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and Deputy Chief of Integrated Staff (Intelligence) under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat in the Ministry of Defence’s Department of Military Affairs, reports The Tribune.

The DIA, which was created in 2002, is responsible for providing and coordinating military intelligence for the Indian Armed forces. The agency was created after the recommendation from a Group of Ministers which looked into lapses leading to the Kargil intrusion in 1999.

The DIA also forms part of the Multi Agency Centre, an umbrella of organisations which looks into infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Lt Gen Dhillon took over the command of the 15 corps in February after the Pulwama attack last year, in which 40 CRPF personnel were martyred. The perpetrators of the ghastly terror attack were killed within 100 hours of the incident.

The 57-year-old Lt General Dhillon, who is from the 1983 batch of the Indian Army, also handled the situation in the Valley after the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He handed over the charge of the 15 corps to Lt General B S Raju on 29 February. He will reportedly assume the charge in the DMA soon as the order for his appointment has been issued.