Gurgaon: Former Army chief VK Singh Tuesday denied any attempt was made to topple the Jammu and Kashmir government, and said the money was given by the intelligence unit for operations to attract youth in the state to constructive work.
The former Army chief also said that leaked media reports were an act "treason", and demanded a thorough inquiry into it.
"If intelligence issue are being discussed in public, it is treason. You are telling the enemy what your intelligence is doing. It must be probed how the report was leaked and action should be taken against those who leaked it to malign a few people without thinking how much it will hurt the nation," VK Singh said at a press conference here.
Media reports quoting an Army inquiry have said that the former Army chief set up a secret intelligence unit which misused its funds in an attempt to topple the Omar Abdullah government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The reports in a newspaper had also said VK Singh paid off an NGO to file a court case and try to change the line of succession in the army top brass, and had also conducted unauthorised covert operations.
Reacting to the reports on destabalising the Jammu and Kashmir government, the former army chief said money given to politicians was not for personal or political use, but for programmes to engage youth in constructive work.
He said money was given to a Kashmiri voluntary organisation to "do certain activities" like holding blood donation camps, running classes for women, "getting children out of the stone throwing mode".
"That money was not for their personal work, or political work. If someone thinks bribe was paid, it is totally wrong... These things cannot be done in uniform, so intelligence unit did that," he said.
He refused to divulge any more information about actions of the intelligence unit, but clarified it was not his "personal army".
VK Singh is under attack over reports that during his tenure attempts were made to topple the Jammu and Kashmir government and that state minister Mir was paid Rs.1.19 crore from the secret army funds to destabilise the state government.
IANS
