Coup story was blown out of proportion: Army chief
May 26th, 2012 - 1:24 am ICT by IANSNew Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh Friday said the story that suggested a coup bid on the basis of movement of two key army units towards the capital has been “blown out of proportion”.
“The story start in January. Any journalist worth his name will say there is no story in it. .. it was blown out of proportion as a scoop,” Gen.Singh told Times Now channel in an interview.
Hitting out at Indian Express for running a story on April that claimed the Raisina Hills, the seat of the Indian government, was “spooked” Jan 16 after the troop movement, the army chief said his side of the story was not taken.
“The story came as a headline by a respected newspaper. The story was dead. My side of the story was not taken. It was orchestrated. It is malafide,” said Gen. Singh, who is retiring on May 31,
He also said the paper has lost “credibility” by putting out the story.
The Indian Express story had said the Hisar-based Mechanised Infantry unit and elements from the 50 Para Brigade in Agra moved towards the capital on the night of Jan 16, without following the standard operating procedure of informing the defence ministry in advance.
The report said since this happened when Gen. Singh was waging a judicial battle against the government over his age row, it created unease and suspicion in Delhi. But the paper left it short of calling it a coup bid.
- Army chief calls coup report 'absolutely stupid' - Apr 05, 2012
- No doubt about armed forces' patriotism: Antony - Apr 04, 2012
- PM calls report on suspicious army movement 'alarmist' - Apr 04, 2012
- Report on suspicious army movement baseless: Government - Apr 04, 2012
- Ridiculous, irresponsible, say ex-chiefs of report - Apr 04, 2012
- Army 'coup' report fizzles out, government terms it 'alarmist' (Roundup) - Apr 04, 2012
- Sort out trust deficit with army, BJP tells government (Lead) - Apr 04, 2012
- PM, Antony rubbish report on army movement as baseless (Lead) - Apr 04, 2012
- 'Deep' government-army trust deficit: Advani - Apr 06, 2012
- Service chiefs to depose before parliamentary panel - Apr 09, 2012
- Parliamentary panel to query service chiefs, but not on April 20 - Apr 13, 2012
- Pakistan war-gaming to counter India's military plan - Jun 05, 2011
- Army movement was nothing unusual, says Antony (Lead) - Apr 04, 2012
- Court bans reports on army movement episode near Delhi (Lead) - Apr 11, 2012
- Army chief blames 'rogue elements' for controversy - Apr 07, 2012
Tags: army chief, army units, chief general, coup, credibility, defence ministry, elements, indian army, indian express, indian government, infantry unit, journalist, mechanised infantry, New Delhi, proportion, scoop, standard operating procedure, suspicion, troop movement, unease