New Delhi: The government on Friday appointed Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju as deputy army chief of staff. Lieutenant-General Raju will take over on May 1.

He will take over from outgoing Lt. Gen. Manoj Pande who will take over the reins of the 13 lakh strong army after the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. MM Naravane completes his term on Saturday.

The appointment of Lt. Gen. Raju is one of the rare instances where an officer was promoted to vice-chief without leading any of the army’s regional commands. He is currently Director General of Military Operations at Army Headquarters here.

A qualified helicopter pilot, Lieutenant-General Raju is a former student of the Sainik school in Bijapur and the National Defense Academy. He was appointed to the Jat Regiment on December 15, 1984.

He commanded his battalion during Operation Parakram in the Western Theater and in Jammu and Kashmir. Lieutenant General Raju has the distinction of commanding the Uri Brigade along the Line of Control, a counter-insurgency force and the Chinar Corps based in Srinagar. He was the commander of the Indian military training team in Bhutan.

He is also Colonel of the Jat Regiment.

During a 38-year career, Lieutenant General Raju held important regimental, staff and training positions at army headquarters and in field formations, including as as Colonel Military Secretary, Legal, in the Military Secretary Branch, Brigadier General, Staff, of the Active White Knight Corps Operational, Deputy Director General, Military Operations, and Director General of Staff Duties.

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