Four army officers stand accused of jumping a red light, ramming the car of a Union minister, and getting into a drunken fracas with the driver here on Saturday night.
Minister’s car hit, driver abused; army denies they were drunk
NEW DELHI: Four army officers stand accused of jumping a red light, ramming the car of a Union minister, and getting into a drunken fracas with the driver here on Saturday night. Ironically, the car belonged to the minister of state for defence production Rao Inderjit Singh.
An embarrassed Army has been trying to play down the incident, and told DNA that its officers were not drunk at the time. But civilian sources, who first disclosed the incident in detail to DNA, say that the four officers — a Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, and two Majors — were drunk, had jumped a red light, and were downright unruly in their behaviour.
Civilian sources say the driver was returning to his unit after dropping the minister off at his official residence. An Army officer dealing with the media told DNA it was actually the driver who had jumped the red light.
An argument ensued. Sources say the officers bullied the driver, and continued to abuse him even after he said his boss was a minister. “Who is he?” the driver was asked. The driver then called up Rao Inderjit Singh, who is number two to defence minister AK Antony.
When the driver put the minister on the phone, the military officers “were disrespectful”, said a civilian source. One of the officers told “Mr Inderjit” to come to the spot to settle the issue. The minister promised to reach the spot. Instead, he rang up Army chief General Deepak Kapoor. The Army chief ordered the Delhi Area commander to act immediately.
A team of the military police arrived at the spot and took everyone, including the driver, to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital a few kilometres away.
Civilian sources told DNA the doctors found alcohol in the blood samples of officers. An Army officer denied this. Sources say the minister has sought disciplinary action against the officers. The Army refused to confirm if any action was underway.
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