Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A day after top serving Army officers were found guilty in a land scam worth Rs 290 crore in West Bengal’s Darjeeling, the government on Tuesday assured stringent action against all those indicted by the Court of Inquiry.
Speaking to reporters here Union Minister of State (Defence) Pallam Raju said, “Ministry has directed to take actions against the accused. We will take strong action against those responsible for this.”
“Whenever there is irregularity in any procedure or any of the functioning, the service looks into the matter and take appropriate steps. The Ministry had directed the Army to look into the matter and they will take appropriate decisions,” he further added.
On being asked about the recent reports of China building air strips along the border Raju said, “"I don't think we need to be unnecessarily alarmed. As a
regional power, they (China) will strengthen their
infrastructure.They will procure their arms and we are doing
what we have to do for strengthening our line.”
The Minister was asked to respond on reports claiming
that China was building 27 airstrips along the LAC.
A probe by the Court of Inquiry into the alleged land scam has revealed that Army Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) Avadesh Prakash took undue interest in a Siliguri project. General Prakash then forced PK Rath to clear acres of land near Army cantonment area here.
The Court of Inquiry (CoI) headed by Lt Gen KT Parnaik, the General Officer Commanding of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps, indicted the two officers for their role in issuing a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to a private establishment that falsely claimed to be establishing an affiliate of the famed Ajmer-based Mayo College.
Lt Gen Prakash is one of the top eight Generals in the headquarters acting as advisors to Army chief General Deepak Kapoor. Prakash is responsible for promotion and postings of officers and the post is said to be a much sought after one.
Lt Gen Rath was all set to go the Army headquarters as one of the principal staff officers to the chief, but his posting has been kept in abeyance pending the probe.
Defence Minister A K Antony had ordered a probe into the allegations.
The Army had initially refused an NOC for selling the land adjacent to the Sukna military station but the decision was reportedly reversed by the senior officers.
A NOC is mandatory for sale of land adjacent to military stations due to security reasons.
The Army inquiry would also look into documents relating to the NOC being forged and the original documents rejecting the NOC being replaced with forged papers in the Army records.