The Hindu : National : Fake enemy kills episode gets murkier

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 09, 2004

National

National

Fake enemy kills episode gets murkier

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, MAY 8. The episode of enemy killings faked by an army unit at Siachen, which has shaken the military establishment, is turning murkier.

Incidentally, the tape depicting the fake encounters was shown by the Commander of the 14 Corps, Arvind Sharma, (the seniormost officer of the troops stationed in Siachen and nearby areas) to upcoming officers at the Defence Staff College. Now fingers are pointed at the entire chain of command for not verifying the contents of the tape before parading the fake killings as major tactical successes.

The Army, however, denies the involvement of senior officers in the manipulations. "Lt. Gen Sharma showed only a little extract of the tape on November 20, 2003, when he did not know the facts. Moreover, the small portion was among a series of presentations. The whole thing blew up a couple of weeks after the tapes were shown at the Staff College and a court of inquiry was promptly ordered," said senior officers here.

They are maintaining that the connivance was confined to the level of the Gorkha Rifles unit stationed on the Siachen Glacier. Other senior officers, including the Brigadier who oversees several such units and Lt. Gen. Sharma, were initially taken in by the make-believe story. That perhaps led to Lt. Gen. Sharma showing the video at the prestigious Staff College in order to motivate and inspire upcoming officers.

However, the establishment had to perforce stall action against the Commanding Officer of the Gorkha Rifles unit and two other middle-level officers in view of the stay granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court against "attachment" of the main accused, Surinder Singh, to a Kumaon Regiment unit pending a preliminary probe ("summary of evidence" - SoE) that precedes a court martial. The next High Court hearing is scheduled for May 11 when Major Singh's lawyer will press for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

However, senior army officers believe that initially there was complicity between Major Singh and his commanding officer, Col. K.D. Singh. This led to Col. Singh recommending Major Singh for a gallantry award. But Col. Singh's claim of an unusually high number of killings in Siachen and the recommendation of a gallantry award to Major Singh were closely scrutinised at a higher level and a probe was ordered. At that point, the two fell out and Col. Singh sought to implicate Maj. Singh. Another Major in the same unit has also come under the net for allegedly passing on classified documents to Maj. Singh on the basis of which he made a credible appearing plea before the High Court. Pending a decision by the High Court, army officials indicate that Col. Singh could also be questioned for more serious charges than the ones that have been framed against him.The lid was blown off over the scandalous manipulation when Maj. Singh went to the High Court against the findings of the court of inquiry which had recommended a SoE. Initially, Maj. Singh wanted the SoE to be conducted outside the jurisdiction of the Northern Command which also controls operations in the Siachen Glacier. With the issue having blown up, his lawyer will be asking for an independent probe by the CBI as he fears that the army establishment may not be fair to his client.

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