New Delhi: An army officer illegally entered the sprawling bungalow of former army chief Gen V.K. Singh on Saturday and fiddled with the communication equipment, his counsel Vishwajeet Singh alleged. The army said the incident occurred due to a communication gap.
“Major R. Vikram of 1 Signals unit, who was in uniform, illegally entered the residence of Gen Singh and removed some cards from the telephone exchange from the room, which is also used for security monitoring of the house,” Vishwajeet Singh told reporters.
“It is a case of criminal tresspass…we will take recourse to all legal options available,” he said.
Army spokesman Col. Jagdeep Dahiya told IANS: “A communications team was dispatched to remove the official telephone (at Gen Singh’s residence) which had been there for a stipulated period. The team should have given prior intimation of its visit. They have been asked to return. The activity will be done again after proper intimation.”
The former Army chief ‘s residence in on the Mandir Marg in the cantonment area.
According to Gen. Singh’s counsel, Major Vikram was not stopped by the staff on duty as he was in uniform but they later apprehended and questioned him after his moves were found suspicious.
“He (Major Vikram) could not come up with a reasonable explanation and had no authorisation,” said the lawyer adding that the Military Police had been
informed about the incident.
Army sources admitted that the exchange was being removed from the former Army chief’s residence as part of the withdrawal of Z-plus security category with effect from November last.
The Army dismissed the allegations of snooping attempt, saying its team had gone there to remove the Army telephone exchange installed there and the issue was created due to communication gap.
“Due to a miscommunication somewhere, a Signals Regiment party went to remove the Army exchange and lines at the Mandir Marg house of Gen VK Singh. Mrs VK Singh objected to the removal of the exchange without prior notice,” Army said in a statement.
Delhi Police said it had not been informed about the incident