Hazare wrote to the PM raising concern over Army chief VK Singh’s letter that highlighted Indian army is short of ammunition and its overall unpreparedness.
Asking if India and its people are safe under him, Team Anna led by Anna Hazare himself on Tuesday wrote to the prime minister Manmohan Singh raising concern over Army chief VK Singh’s letter that highlighted Indian army is short of ammunition and its overall unpreparedness.
Team Anna questioned that if Army chief and defence minister AK Antony are being targeted for their honesty. They demanded an independent inquiry into the matter by a special investigative team of former police officers stating that the same is not possible through Intelligence Bureau or the Central Bureau of Investigation because both work under Chidambaram’s control.
Team Anna said if the content of VK Singh’s letter is true then it raises serious questions about huge defence budget of the country. “People feel that our army is equipped with the best of weapons but when army chief states that we don’t even have enough ammunition then it raises questions as to where this money (defense budget) is going,” said Arvind Kejriwal while reading the letter.
Referring to procurement of Tatra trucks, Kejriwal stated that as per a newspaper report, since 2003 nearly Rs5,000 crore have been spent on procurement of those trucks of which nearly Rs 750 crores were paid as bribe. “These reports are worrisome,” he said.
Reports about Army Chief’s letter and irregularities in Tatra trucks were exposed by DNA.
On troop movement related story, the activists said there seems to be a conspiracy to weaken army’s morale and lower the army chief’s credibility.
Kejriwal said just terming the story as baseless is not enough. “Is it that someone from the government is behind this story because of which you (prime minister) are not able to do anything. “
Kejriwal and Bhushan highlighted that in last few decades several cases of corruption in defense matters have come out but CBI was not able to get punishment to any accused in any of those cases. Team Anna called for an independent investigation into the whole episode. They, however, lamented that it is not possible because no investigating agency - CBI or IB - is independent so an independent SIT of former officers should be formed for it.
The activists said had there been an independent Lokpal in the country, an independent inquiry could have been conducted into the matter.
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