Srinagar: Girish Chandra Murmu on Thursday (October 31) took oath as the first Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The oath was administered by chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court, Gita Mittal.

IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu had arrived in Srinagar on Wednesday (October 30) and was received by Advisor Farooq Khan and chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam at Srinagar International Airport.

Murmu served as expenditure secretary at the Centre before being appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, Radha Krishna Mathur took oath as the first Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh.

Mathur, a 1977-batch IAS officer from Tripura cadre, retired as the Chief Information Commissioner of India in November 2018.

He served as expenditure secretary at the Centre before being appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court Geeta Mittal administered the oath to Mathur.

In August this year, the government revoked Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.