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Army admits to fake killings in Siachen
New Delhi, May 07: In a major blow to its image, three senior army officers have been found guilty in embarrassing episodes of fake killings of Pakistani soldiers on the Siachen glacier.
New Delhi, May 07: In a major blow to its image, three senior army officers have been found guilty in embarrassing episodes of fake killings of Pakistani soldiers on the Siachen glacier.
A court of inquiry has held Major Surinder Singh, company commander of a Gorkha battalion doing his tenure on the glacier, of having "faked killings of some enemy personnel and destruction of some enemy bunkers" and ordered disciplinary action against him.
The court also held commanding officer of the battalion Col K D Singh and his adjutant Major Rohit Lama guilty of "administrative lapses" and an "administrative action" was ordered against them.
The defence ministry admitted in a press release here this afternoon that Maj Singh had been blamed by the court for "having faked the killings of enemy personnel", but this version was changed later with an army spokesman confining himself to stating that this officer had been "found culpable of having exaggerated and faking some events on the glacier."
The spokesman said the commanding officer and Major Lama were held "guilty of committing acts of omission and commission of administrative nature and not operationally-related nor to Major Singh`s events."
To a volley of questions whether the expose had sullied the image of the army, the spokesman sought to downplay it, labelling the incidents as "individual events" and that stringent action would be taken against the guilty.
The army was reacting to reports that some of its personnel posted at the world`s highest battlefield were faking incidents, apparently to claim gallantry awards.
The defence ministry statement refuted this, asserting that army operations were "professionally conducted and systematically monitored at various levels of command."
It said such claims are always verified by personnel of other agencies posted at these places.
"The system of awards and citations is absolutely foolproof and above board. There is no question of anyone receiving awards or citations on false claims and in this instant case also as soon as the complaint was received, appropriate action was immediately initiated," it said.
While expressing ignorance about how many more people could be involved in the faking of incidents, the army spokesman said while disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against Major Singh, administrative action had been ordered against the two others.
As the army sought to proceed legally against him, Major Singh, however, reported sick on March 26 and was moved to headquarters northern area at Chandigarh, he said.
Major Singh was subsequently attached to 6 Kumaon located in Kashmir on April 19 but the officer obtained a stay order from Punjab and Haryana High Court against his attachment.
The spokesman said Major Singh had been "cautioned" by his commanding officer after certain claims of his were found to be "exaggerated" and in turn, the officer levelled certain charges against his superior.
"This led to a series of events culminating in ordering of a court of inquiry by the formation headquarters," he said.
To a question whether 14 corps commander Lt Gen Arvind Sharma had made a presentation at the prestigious defence services staff college at Wellington on the basis of footage of these fake encounters, the spokesman said the corps commander might not have known at that stage whether the footage was stage-managed.
Bureau Report
The court also held commanding officer of the battalion Col K D Singh and his adjutant Major Rohit Lama guilty of "administrative lapses" and an "administrative action" was ordered against them.
The defence ministry admitted in a press release here this afternoon that Maj Singh had been blamed by the court for "having faked the killings of enemy personnel", but this version was changed later with an army spokesman confining himself to stating that this officer had been "found culpable of having exaggerated and faking some events on the glacier."
The spokesman said the commanding officer and Major Lama were held "guilty of committing acts of omission and commission of administrative nature and not operationally-related nor to Major Singh`s events."
To a volley of questions whether the expose had sullied the image of the army, the spokesman sought to downplay it, labelling the incidents as "individual events" and that stringent action would be taken against the guilty.
The army was reacting to reports that some of its personnel posted at the world`s highest battlefield were faking incidents, apparently to claim gallantry awards.
The defence ministry statement refuted this, asserting that army operations were "professionally conducted and systematically monitored at various levels of command."
It said such claims are always verified by personnel of other agencies posted at these places.
"The system of awards and citations is absolutely foolproof and above board. There is no question of anyone receiving awards or citations on false claims and in this instant case also as soon as the complaint was received, appropriate action was immediately initiated," it said.
While expressing ignorance about how many more people could be involved in the faking of incidents, the army spokesman said while disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against Major Singh, administrative action had been ordered against the two others.
As the army sought to proceed legally against him, Major Singh, however, reported sick on March 26 and was moved to headquarters northern area at Chandigarh, he said.
Major Singh was subsequently attached to 6 Kumaon located in Kashmir on April 19 but the officer obtained a stay order from Punjab and Haryana High Court against his attachment.
The spokesman said Major Singh had been "cautioned" by his commanding officer after certain claims of his were found to be "exaggerated" and in turn, the officer levelled certain charges against his superior.
"This led to a series of events culminating in ordering of a court of inquiry by the formation headquarters," he said.
To a question whether 14 corps commander Lt Gen Arvind Sharma had made a presentation at the prestigious defence services staff college at Wellington on the basis of footage of these fake encounters, the spokesman said the corps commander might not have known at that stage whether the footage was stage-managed.
Bureau Report