Unnecessary attempts to throw muck at govt, army: VK Singh

Breaking his silence, army chief Gen VK Singh on Thursday dismissed as "absolutely stupid" a report on the "unusual" movement of two army units towards Delhi in mid-January, saying unnecessary attempts were being made to "throw muck" at the government and the army.

Here on a three-day visit, Gen Singh said such reports show that people were unnecessarily trying to throw muck at the government and the army and they need to be taken to task.

"This is absolutely stupid," he told PTI when asked to comment on the report in the Indian Express yesterday that said the government was "spooked" on the night of January 16-17 because of the movement of a mechanised infantry battalion from Haryana's Hisar and a sizeable section of 50 Para Brigade.

"Whosoever is trying to make stories against the army chief is deplorable.

"And what it shows is that people are unnecessarily trying to throw muck at both the government and the army and such people should be taken to task," he said.

The army chief is in Nepal to attend a three-day Regional seminar on Natural Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance.

In New Delhi yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the defence establishment dismissed the report as "alarmist" and "absolutely baseless".