I wrote to PM, Antony, not army chief: Trinamool MP

Trinamool Congress MP Ambika Banerjee on Thursday said he had shot off letters to the prime minister and the defence minister on disputed deals, and not to the army chief who is demanding a probe against a top lieutenant general on the basis of this missive.

“I did not give a letter to the army chief,” Banerjee said after the army chief sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a May 2011 letter purportedly from the Banerjee, complaining against Lt. Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps.

Gen VK Singh, citing the letter from the MP, has asked the premier investigating agency to probe the complaint against the lieutenant general alleging widespread procurement scams in the secretive Special Frontier Force —- when Suhag was its inspector general.

Banerjee told a news channel, Star Ananda, in Delhi that a year back, after getting information of graft from reliable sources, he had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister AK Antony about “illegal or disputed deals”.

“Unfortunately, I have received only acknowledgement. I am very surprised that I did not get any letter from them. But the media has got my letter from their tables,” Banerjee said.