Two Indian army units that moved towards New Delhi during mid-January night without notifying the government raised an alarm in the capital, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing several unidentified sources.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the media reports were “alarmist” and should not be taken at face value.”These are alarmist reports. These should not be taken at face value,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
Clarifying the government’s stand, Singh said the army chief’s office is an exalted office and all of us have an obligation to do nothing that lowers its dignity.
The Indian Express newspaper in a front page report said the Hisar-based Mechanised Infantry and elements from a unit of the airborne 50 Para Brigade based in Agra had moved towards the capital in January. It said the movement took place on the night of Jan 16, without following the standard operating procedure of informing the defence ministry in advance.
It said since this happened around the time when army chief Gen. V.K. Singh was waging a judicial battle against the government over his age row, it created unease and suspicion in the corridors of power in Delhi.
Citing central intelligence agencies, the news daily said that key military units stationed in the vicinity of the national capital had embarked on a ‘non-notified’ movement towards Delhi. The mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) as a part of the 33rd Armoured Division (which is a part of 1 Corps, a strike formation based in Mathura and commanded by Lt Gen A K Singh) had started out in the direction of the capital, 150 km away.
The reports further claims that the movement of an entire unit of Mechanised Infantry, with Russian-made Armoured Fighting Vehicles carried on 48 tank transporters, was confirmed by routine lookouts.
Defense Minister A.K. Antony was informed and the government ordered police to check all vehicles on roads to Delhi as a way of slowing traffic. The Defense secretary, the ministry’s top civil servant, cut short a trip to Malaysia to handle the situation.
On January 16, the very same day these exercises took place, Singh took a case against the government to the Supreme Court in a row about whether he could serve another year before retiring. He later lost the case.