Lt Gen Gurpal Singh Sangha on Tuesday took over as the General Officer Commanding, Bengal Area, of the Army, Defence sources said here. The outgoing GOC, Bengal Area, Lt Gen Giri Raj Singh handed over the command at a solemn function at the HQ Bengal Area.
Lt Gen Sangha, a 1981 commissioned officer, has held key command and staff appointments in the Army and has a lot of operations experience, the sources said.
He has participated in anti-insurgency operations in Punjab as a company commander and later in Jammu and Kashmir as commanding officer as well as brigade commander.
He has also commanded a mountain division in Sikkim, the sources said. Lt Gen Sangha was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal for his contribution in sports (shooting) and Sena Medal for successful anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, the sources added. Besides possessing tremendous experience of carrying out anti-insurgency operations, he has a wide experience working as liaison officer of the Indian Army abroad. He also served as the Indian Army Liaison officer at Warminster in Wiltshire in UK.