Army gets new DGMO, deputy chief and Kashmir Corps Commander

New Delhi: Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen. B.S. Raju has been appointed as the new Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and Lt Gen. D.P. Pandey will take over from him, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence and security establishment said that the appointment order has come and Raju will take over as the new DGMO in April after having completed his tenure as the Corps Commander.

He will succeed Lt Gen. Paramjit Singh Sangha, who took over as the Deputy Chief (Strategy) in the Army Headquarters last week.

Experienced hands

Lt Gen Singh had played a key role in the 2016 surgical strike and is the first Deputy Chief (Strategy), a post created as part of the reorganisation within the Army Headquarters.

Lt Gen. Pandey, who is currently the Director General of the Territorial Army, will oversee anti-terror operations in Kashmir and the Line of Control.

He had earlier led the Kilo Force, which takes care of the operations in North Kashmir.

Gen. Raju comes with a wide experience of handling terrorism-related matters, having served in Jammu and Kashmir for five tenures, before taking over as the Corps Commander.

Incidentally, Lt Gen. Pandey also had a long tenure in Kashmir, with six postings with Chinar Corps in his career.

Surrender, not kill, policy

Lt Gen. Raju had in October said the Army is working on ensuring surrender, instead of straight killings, and his tenure has been marked by a high number of encounters during which local Kashmir terrorists were caught alive.

His tenure has also seen the lowest number of active terrorists in the valley.

Lt Gen Pandey, who will take over mid-April as the Corps Commander, is the first DG rank officer to head the TA.

The TA was, until his posting, headed by an ADG rank officer, a major general, even though the DG position had remained vacant for some time.

With the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Department of Military Affairs headed by Gen. Bipin Rawat, the TA now comes under him, instead of the Army Chief. (The Print)