Lt. Gen. Ramesh Halgali, a whistle-blower in the 2009 70-acre Sukna military station land scam in West Bengal that led to court martial of senior army officers, Monday took over as the deputy chief of army staff.
He will be in charge of information systems and training in the army headquarters, an army release said here.
Commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry regiment in December 1972, Halgali has attended Defence Services Staff College, National Defence College, a Senior Fellows Course in Washington DC, and is an M.Phil. from DAV Institute of Management, Indore.
The officer has held many important staff and instructional assignments. He commanded an infantry brigade and division in Jammu and Kashmir and a corps in Western sector. Till recently, he was director general of military training.
He was awarded Sena Medal (Gallantry) in 1992 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service in 2012.
His name figured among the officers involved in the Sukna military station land scam, as he had served as the chief of staff to Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath at the corps headquarters there. But later, it came to light that he was the whistle-blower and was let off.