Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu has been appointed the next Chief of the Army’s crucial Northern Command. He will take over from Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda who is set to retire on November 30.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday cleared the appointment of Lt. Gen. Anbu for the post of General Officer-in-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Northern Army Command with effect from December 1.
He was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in 1980 and is currently the Corps Commander of 4 Corps based at Tezpur in Assam.
The Udhampur-based Northern Command oversees the critical State of Jammu and Kashmir and has three formations under it — Leh-based 14 Corps, Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Nagrota based 16 Corps.
Lt. Gen. Anbu will take charge at a time of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan on the border with ceasefire violations taking place on a daily basis following the Army’s surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) in September.
He is a recipient of the Sena Medal (Gallantry) for operations on the Siachen Glacier and was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and the Yudh Seva Medal (YSM) for distinguished service.
