RK Mathur sworn in as lieutenant governor of union territory of Ladakh

Leh, October 31

Former defence secretary RK Mathur was on Thursday sworn in as the first Lt Governor of strategically located Union Territory of Ladakh, which came into existence after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mathur, who will be turning 66 later this month, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal at a function held at Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium at Tisuru.

The warrant of appointment was read by a senior official at the function after which the oath ceremony took place.

Mathur, an IAS officer of the 1977 batch from Tripura, later inspected a guard of honour of local police.

A postgraduate in Industrial Engineering from IIT, Mathur retired as Defence Secretary in 2015 and was appointed as Chief Information Commissioner in December the same year. He completed his tenure in November last year after attaining the age of 65.

Ahead of the swearing-in, the Union Home Ministry revoked the notification of December last year of imposition of President’s rule in the undivided Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre on Wednesday night appointed Umang Narula, an IAS officer of the 1989 batch, as adviser to Mathur besides posting SS Khandare, an IPS officer of the 1995 batch, as ‘Head of Police’ in Ladakh.

With a population of nearly three lakh, Ladakh is strategically located as it shares borders with Pakistan as well as China. PTI