Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 12

Lt General JS Sandhu will be the new General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based Army’s 15 Corps. He will replace Lt Gen Satish Kumar Dua.In another move, Lt Gen AK Sharma has been appointed as the next GOC of Nagrota-based 16 Corps. He will replace Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar who proceeds as Master General Ordnance (MGO) at Army Headquarters.According to the posting orders issued by Army Headquarters, Lt Gen Sandhu, who is an officer of the 5th Gorkha Rifles, will take over as the new GOC, 15 Corps. The 5th Gorkha Rifles is the regiment of the Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh. Lt Gen Sandhu has served as the Military Attache in Nepal besides he had also coordinated the relief and rescue operations in Nepal in 2015.The appointment of Lt Gen Sandhu has come at a crucial juncture because the Kashmir valley has been facing widespread violence and unrest since the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8. It is expected that the Army will play an important role to restore normalcy in the Kashmir valley.He has been given an extended joining time of 30 days and would report to Srinagar to take over the command of the 15 Corps on October 25. His predecessor, Lt Gen Dua will have to wait for some time to get his new posting.