Chandigarh, June 07: Rejecting the Subramaniam Committee set up to go into Kargil war, a retired Brigadier who was Brigade Commander in Kargil on Monday alleged that a "strategic and important" post in Drass Sector was still under the occupation of Pakistan.
"Adjacent to Tiger Hill, a post 5353 which is about 300 metres inside LoC in the Indian territory is occupied by enemies," Brig (Retd) Surinder Singh, who was the first to make public the intrusion by Pakistan during the Kargil war, told reporters here.
Seeking a judicial probe by a sitting judge into the Subramaniam Review Committee, he sought Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee`s intervention into the "authenticity" on the presence of Pakistan soldiers at Point 5353.
The committee was set up to "cover up government`s failure and save the army`s top brass," he alleged.
Recalling his days of battlefield during Kargil war, Singh said when he was attacking tiger hill and tololing with his troops a few Pakistani soldiers fired upon them from Point 5353. "Pakistan has started developing at the post (Point 5353) and it was informed to the right authorities at an appropriate time," he added.
To substantiate his assertion that enemy is still at point 5353, Singh said he had satellite images showing the presence of enemy at the post.
"The Indian Army could not capture this post during the Kargil war and the claims of the then government on it were false," he alleged.
He demanded that during the next round of bilateral talks with Pakistan the issue of Point 5353 must be raised. "It has to be cleared of enemy occupation as from this point troops movement along Kargil-Drass and Srinagar-Kargil could be captured by sitting at proper heights."
Singh said Former Defence Minister George Fernandes had made incorrect statements on Point 5353 and even went to the extent of saying that such a post did not exist.
Bureau Report
