New Delhi: A day after a huge controversy erupted over allegations that an intelligence unit set up in 2010 by retired Gen VK Singh misused secret funds to try and topple the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir, the former Army chief said that anyone who says that the unit in question Technical Services Division (TSD) is a private army doesn’t know anything about the armed forces. The former Army chief said if the unit (TSD) was allowed to function properly, the cross border terrorism would not have happened, adding that “the (TSD) unit was not a personal unit of the Chief of Army Staff.” Gen Singh also took the opportunity to hit back at the newspaper which had published the report saying a campaign was being run against him. “The whole report is hogwash and motivated,” he added.
Alleging that some people are behind the ‘orchestrated campaign’ against him, the ex-Army chief said that it’s very interesting that first he was accused of toppling the Indian Government and now the J&K govt. About a newspaper’s allegation that the ex-Army chief had paid off an NGO to try and change the line of succession in the army top brass, Gen Singh said, “If I wanted I could have stopped Bikram Singh’s succession.” “There is a case against Bikram Singh in court, if we wanted to cause problems we could have,” the ex-Army Chief said.
The media report has claimed that General (Retd) Singh set up a special unit in the Army which tried to destabilize the J&K government. The report claims that a secret Board of Officers inquiry has recommended that the CBI look into the matter. Media report also claims that the unit set up by General (Retd.) Singh called the Technical Services Division (TSD), a part of Military Intelligence, tried to block General Bikram Singh’s promotion. The reports said that the Board of Officers’ recommendation has been examined by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Defence.
The Defence Ministry had yesterday said it will decide on its course of action over the Army report on TSD after its careful examination while asserting it had measures in place to prevent any such undesirable activities. Stating that the report “impinges on matters of national security”, the Ministry in a statement, however, said it has not yet taken a decision on going for a CBI inquiry. The report was prepared by Director General (Military Operations) Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia as part of a Board of Officers inquiry formed by Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh to review the functioning of the top secret unit set up during the tenure of his predecessor.
Bureau Report
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