Days after the Army formally denied having played any role in the electronic eavesdropping on the office of Defence Minister A.K. Antony and others, the Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh on Tuesday said those being acted against by the institution were leaking “fictitious” reports.
“It [the Army] will take necessary action against some of these officers. Our aim is that we come up with facts upfront and we don't hide them. Such fiction has to be countered,” General Singh told correspondents on the sidelines of a reception to honour the gallantry medals winners.
The Army chief said the news reports emanated after fictitious reports — about snooping by the military intelligence — were circulated by some officers being acted against by the Army.
Gen. Singh had said he was determined to restore the health of the force, whose image had taken a beating following reports of alleged wrongdoings by those in the higher echelons.
Recently, the Army issued a statement blaming a former Lieutenant General and a few serving “disgruntled” officers for circulating reports to media that the phones of some people in the Defence Ministry were under surveillance.
Asked about recent reports that he had purchased a piece of land in Himachal Pradesh which could not be owned by people outside the State, the Army Chief said: “Let us not go by this salacious tarnishing of image that is going on. I started with a particular thing and unfortunately this is hurting a lot of people. We have Adarsh [the Cooperative Building Society issue] and all kinds of things where people are feeling that all the wrongdoings have been exposed. That is the motivation behind all what is being thrown.”
