Personal expenses proved costly for a lieutenant general after it was found that his wife had been regularly billing the Union home ministry for bed linens, fancy haircuts and facials.
Personal expenses proved costly for a lieutenant general after it was found that his wife had been regularly billing the Union home ministry for bed linens, fancy haircuts and facials.
Lt Gen Rameshwar Roy, posted as the director general of Assam Rifles since December 2010, was unceremoniously pulled out once the allegations surfaced. Roy has been cooling his heels in Delhi since February 22. The paramilitary force, specially raised to fight insurgency in the North-east, comes under the home ministry.
Documents with DNA show a string of purchases and expenditure incurred between December 2010 and January 2012 by Roy’s wife. All these were billed as official expenditure and the money “reimbursed” to Roy. Everything was running smoothly till a disgruntled officer blew the whistle on him.
A file noting, accessed by DNA, shows a bill of Rs23,000 being processed for reimbursement to an officer during Roy and
his wife’s visit to Kolkata in 2011. The noting records expenses of Rs21,300, along with an additional Rs1,670 for an expensive haircut and some beauty treatments.
Among the bills submitted are a string of purchases by the general’s wife: a bedspread with pillow covers for Rs9,000 and a salwar suit for Rs2,550 to name a few. These and money spent on beauty treatment have been passed off as “items bought
for AR (Assam Rifles) House”, saying it “may be taken on
charge of the officer’s mess and taken on voucher”.
How a beauty treatment or a salwar suit became purchases for the official house of the Assam Rifles DG remains unexplained though.
Investigations have revealed that the general and his wife are no rookies; they are rather masters at passing off personal expenses as official ones. The 108 Mountain Brigade in Port Blair has some “dirty secrets”.
A “Col Promod” had paid for an elaborate meal of butter chicken, mixed vegetables and other standard delicacies at the Sea Shell Restaurant in Havelock, a neighbouring island and a famous tourist spot. All were passed off as “official expenditure”.
Another document dated February 14, 2011, and signed by Commandant Jagdish Chander of the Assam Rifles shows a reimbursement of Rs1 lakh to Captain MR Singh who was serving as the staff officer to LtGen Roy.
This too has been passed off as “reimbursement” for “procurement of items for AR (Assam Rifles) House by Mrs Rameshwar Roy during her visit to New Delhi”.
A home ministry source told DNA that the Roys had offered to repay the money now that these bills have surfaced. While an investigation is on, an embarrassed defence ministry sought Roy’s repatriation with immediate effect.
When the news of his repatriation had surfaced, Roy had said “this was normal since he had finished his mandatory one-year tenure”.
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