Saturday, March 15, 2008

Brigadier, Lt Col charged in fuel scam


The Indian Army is facing another scandal. Some top officials including a Brigadier and a Lt Col of the Leh-based 14-Corps have been chargesheeted for diverting fuel that was meant for troops in Siachen to line their own pockets.
The chargesheet, filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate of Leh earlier in the week, names Brigadier Sukhbir Singh, the then Deputy Director Supply and Transport, Lt Col DK Chaturvedi, the then Officer-in-Command of 406 Army Supply Corps, Captain Parveen Rawat (406 ASC), Subedars Major Sunder Singh and RK Nigam.
All the accused have been asked to appear before the court on April 4.
They been charged with accepting tankers filled with water as consignments of diesel and kerosene.
Investigations by the Jammu and Kashmir Police have revealed that the racket was being run in connivance with Indian Oil officials.
Reacting to the chargesheet, Lt Col AK Mathur, PRO, Indian Army, J&K Region said, "The case is three-year-old. Some other officers and civilians are also involved in the case. We have our own procedure and I cannot comment now on what action will be taken. I can't comment on how many others are involved. The J&K Police will give those details."
The integrity of the Army's logistics chain has already been under the scanner for a while.
Earlier, there was another case of diversion of special clothing and rations into the market in the same corps.
Recently, a Court of Inquiry was also initiated against an officer of Major General rank from the same command for alleged sexual harassment.

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