NEW DELHI (PTI): Lt Gen B S Raju, the General-Officer-Commanding of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, will be the new Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army, official sources said on Saturday.

Lt Gen D P Pandey, currently serving as the Director General of the Territorial Army, will succeed Lt Gen Raju at the crucial corps that carries out the Army's counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, they said.

Lt Gen Raju, who has extensive experience in counter-terror operations, will succeed Lt Gen Paramjit Singh who has taken charge as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (strategy).

The new post of deputy chief of the army staff (strategy) was created to deal with military operations, military intelligence, strategic planning and operational logistics.

Lt Gen Raju is expected to take charge as the new DGMO in late March or early April, the sources said.

He had served as the commander of the Army's 'Victor Force' which is responsible for counter-insurgency operations in the volatile south Kashmir region.

Lt Gen D P Pandey was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry regiment in December 1985 and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

He had multiple tenures in high altitude areas and commanded a battalion in Siachen Glacier and Chushul sector in Ladakh. He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles sector and a counter-insurgency unit in the Kashmir valley.

Lt Gen Pandey has held numerous prestigious staff appointments which included Director in Infantry Directorate.