Srinagar, Aug 31 (IANS): Lt General Prashant Srivastava has been posted as the new corps commander of Srinagar-headquartered Chinar Corps replacing Lt General Rajiv Ghai who will take over as the new Director General of Military Operations.

Defence Ministry sources said that the army has appointed the new Corps Commander for the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, who will be his new charge on October 15.

Lt Gen Prashant Srivastava has done extensive deployments in the Kashmir Valley and before moving to the Army Headquarters, he was commanding a Rashtriya Rifles Force in the Valley.

Lt General Ghai has been cleared to take over as the new Director General of Military Operations succeeding Lt Gen Prateek Sharma.

Lt Gen Ghai is an expert in counter-terrorism operations and worked very closely with Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi during his days as Northern Army Commander.

Two important Principal Staff Officers in Army Headquarters including the Deputy Chief Strategy and Deputy Chief (Capability Development and Sustenance) are retiring on October 31.

Many officers have already been sent to take over in the Corps like the 3 Corps in Dimapur and the new Army War College Commandant from the list of new postings issued on July 22.

Meanwhile, following the approval by the election commission, the J&K government has posted Imtiyaz Hussain as the new SSP of Srinagar district, Zahid Malik as the new SSP of Baramulla district, Ghulam Jeelani as the new SSP Kupwara and Ifroz Ahmad as the SP Handwara.