NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju will take over as the Vice Chief of Army Staff on May 1. He is currently the Director-General of Military Operations.

An alumnus of the Sainik school in Bijapur and the National Defense Academy, he started his career on December 15, 1984, as part of the JAT Regiment.

General BS Raju commanded his Battalion during Operation Parakram in the Western Theatre and in Jammu and Kashmir. He also holds the distinction of commanding the Uri brigade along the Line of Control, a Counter Insurgency Force and the Chinar Corps in the Kashmir Valley.