Lt. Gen. R.K. Rana is new Assam Rifles chief

Shillong, May 26 (IANS) Lieutenant General R.K. Rana Monday took over as director general of the Assam Rifles, India's oldest paramilitary force.

Rana succeeds Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, who has retired.

Before taking over as the Assam Rifles chief, Rana was general officer commanding of an Area headquarters at Bareilly.

Commissioned into the Rajputana Rifles in June 1973, Rana commanded an infantry battalion in counter insurgency operations, a mountain brigade in high altitude area, an infantry division on the China border and the Special Frontier Force in the cabinet secretariat.

Assam Rifles has 46 battalions, 15 of which are deployed along the 1,643-km-long unfenced Myanmar border. Its headquarters is in Shillong.