Top Army officer asked to resign following allegations of sexual abuse

In a huge embarrassment for the Army, a Lt. General has been accused of sexual misconduct by the wife of a junior colleague, prompting the Army to extract his resignation.

Fifty-nine-year-old A. K. Nanda, Engineer-in-Chief, became the senior most Army officer to be removed in such an unceremonious manner.

Gen. Nanda, who had one year more left in his service, was asked to put in his papers by Army Chief Gen. V. K. Singh after a complaint by the wife of his technical secretary that he had molested her during a visit to Israel last month, Army sources said.

Gen. Nanda and his team had gone to Israel along with their families on an official trip during which he is alleged to have misbehaved with the wife of the Colonel-rank officer, the sources said.

The woman had complained to the Army chief's wife Bharti Singh, the president of the Army Wives Welfare Association, who promptly put it up before Gen. Singh.

An inquiry was immediately ordered into the incident after which the Army chief told Gen. Nanda last week to resign, the sources said.

Gen. Nanda had taken over as Engineer-in-Chief about a year ago. He had earlier served as the Director General of the Border Roads Organisation.

Gen. Nanda's technical secretary, who had expressed his displeasure and unwillingness to work under him, has been posted to Bhopal. A new technical secretary, Col. Sanjeev Dalal, has taken over the job.

When Gen. Nanda's office was contacted, his staff, including Col. Dalal, refused to speak on the matter.

Gen. Nanda was not available for comments.