Army Intelligence contact cries foul against discrimination

Anil Dogra.

Vasdev Sharma has been running from pillar to post to seek justice for self and his family for the last over 39 years sine he was released from a Pakistan jail after languishing for more than 8 years in different jails in that country for spying activities. Lambasting at the Central and State government as well, Sharma alleged that both the governments had been discriminating with the persons caught in Pakistan for spying for the country.

He said that like him many Indians had spent a horrible life in Pakistan jails but were not provided with any financial help. He said that the governments both at the centre and the state should look in to the grievances and problems of the persons who had been working for the unity and integrity of the country and spend a major part of their life in Pakistan jails in the hope that they would be rewarded after they returned to their country but all in vain..

About 69 years old Sharma while narrating his agony and the years he passed in Pakistan jails today said that he was recruited as a contact for collecting secret information valuable for our country by the Military Intelligence Wing of the 11 Army Corps at Jalandhar cantonment and was sent to Pakistan during 1965 Indo-Pak war. He crossed over to Fassowali in Pakistan from the last Indian post of Rattra Sattra in Dera Baba Nanak sector of Gurdaspur district. He remained in Pakistan territory for over a year till he was caught by Pakistan rangers on July 28, 1966 while crossing over to India by jumping in to Basantar River.

During his stay in Pakistan he gathered valuable and most significant information which proved vital for India strategically. He was tried for spying in a Sialkot court and was awarded a sentence for 30 months under Defence Act of Pakistan and 10 years jail under 3 Official Secret Act of Pakistan. He was first lodged in Mianwali jail from where he was made a rolling stone to move from one jail to another jail. He said that he was kept in Mianwali, Multan, Lahore, Gujranwala and Montgomery jails before he was released by the Pakistan authorities in May 1974 after Simla Pact was reached between India and Pakistan.

He said that after his release with 125 other Indian prisoners including seven spies released from Pakistan reached the Wagha-Attari border, they all were taken to Amritsar jail for investigation and medical examination.

Since his release from Pakistan he had been running from pillar to post to seek financial help from the centre and the state as well. He had narrated his story full of agony to many Central and Punjab ministers but no one had come to his help. He had received a meager sum of Rs. 5000/- only from the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpai for his treatment about twelve years back.

He said that if the family of Sarabjit Singh could be facilitated with huge amounts by both the state and central government then why not others can be accorded financial help to lead a honourable life in the society.

via Punjab News Line

Unreliable sources may be taking intelligence agencies for a ride

Josy Joseph.

A series of dramatic intelligence inputs by various agencies from along the India-Pakistan border has raised troubling questions if untrustworthy sources are feeding fantastic stories for a payment.

According to at least two sources in the security establishment, the Intelligence Bureau and the Military Intelligence, in the third week of January, filed similar narratives about the January 8 beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj. The strikingly similar reports, sources said, came from their humint ( human intelligence).

A senior official who has been involved in intelligence for a few decades said they suspect that both the agencies were fed by the same source. “This is not an isolated incident. We have been seeing a pattern,” he said, citing the instance of a much publicized report last year about five terrorists coming to Mumbai for attacks. The photos released to the public turned out to be that of Lahore traders.

Around the time of the beheading incident, at least three different agencies, including the BSF and Military Intelligence, separately reported that Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed had visited Tattapani across Poonch and extorted action against Indian troops. Again, the inputs were assessed to be of extremely low dependability.

“It has become a regular affair along the border, especially the LoC. We are seeing a pattern. I think these so-called sources are raking in money feeding various agencies. Most of the information is patently false,” another senior official said.

The kind of unverified information being fed to Indian agencies is starkly visible in the kind of inputs that has been flowing into New Delhi from the Poonch-Mendhar area in recent years. One Subedar Jabbar Khan, who is also called Sabar Khan, has been heading the ISI detachment in Tattapani for several years now, if these inputs are to go by. Col Siddiqui, who according to these intelligence reports paid Rs 5 lakh for the beheading, has been there for at least five years. Both the facts, that ISI officials would have such a long posting along the border, is adding to further questions about the credibility of these inputs.

A third source said questions over the unreliable inputs have been troubling the security establishment for many years now. In May 2012, Indian agencies were taken for a ride by an input that came through the Research and Analysis Wing about a team of terrorists who had landed in India for an attack in Mumbai. Later, it turned out that the photos of the so-called terrorists were that of traders in Lahore.

Worse, sources said the information was fed to RAW by a man who pretended to be a close relative of a senior LeT leader.

In the face of such frequent recurrences, many are saying that the intelligence agencies need to introduce a verifiable source payment mechanism. Meaning, each source that is paid by a field operative should be verifiable by the agency top brass, which is the system in most developed countries. Indian intelligence field operatives have all the discretion for payments and their sources are a closely guarded secret. There is no scientific assessment of source dependability nor payment mechanisms.

The situation is worse along the border, where there is jostling among the several intelligence agencies to collect information from Pakistan. So a flourishing intelligence industry has sprung up, with many sources. Some of these sources are smugglers who frequently cross borders, and most others are residents of villages along the border. In a large number of cases, they are just feeding the information that Indian agencies want to hear and not always the truth, many here suspect.

via The Times of India.

Dirty tricks of Military Intelligence unit exposed in probe

Rahul Singh.

A high-level army probe has exposed the dirty tricks of a secret military intelligence unit, which gained notoriety during former army chief General VK Singh‘s tenure, and recommended immediate disbanding of the unit.

The investigation, conducted by director general of military operations Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, revealed that the technical services division (TSD) – the innocuous name for the unit – overstepped its mandate and diverted funds to compromise Gen Bikram Singh’s chances of taking over as VK Singh’s successor.

Although VK Singh could not be reached, his lawyer, Vishwajeet Singh, said the former chief had not directed the TSD to carry out any campaign against Gen Bikram Singh.

But sources said the board of officers, headed by Gen Bhatia, found that the TSD had diverted the army’s secret funds to get a public interest litigation filed against Gen Bikram Singh over an alleged fake encounter in Kashmir in 2001.

The PIL was filed last year by a little known NGO when Gen VK Singh’s age row was at its peak. Gen Bikram Singh was then a brigadier in the Kashmir Valley.

As first reported by HT on August 23, 2012, Gen Bikram Singh constituted the board of officers during that month to probe the TSD’s mandate, tasks executed by it and scrutinise its financial records. The TSD, which reported to VK Singh, had a budget of Rs. 18 crore.

At a time when a false propaganda was on that Gen Bikram Singh’s daughter-in-law was of Pakistani origin, TSD officials splurged tax payers’ money to visit Dubai – where the current army chief’s son and daughter-in-law reside – in attempts to establish the link that never existed, the probe found.

VK Singh’s lawyer, Vishwajeet Singh, said, “TSD personnel may have visited several countries, but it was never in connection with the current chief.”

The unit had also faced allegations of listening in on mobile conversations of politicians and bureaucrats when VK Singh had locked horns with the government over the age issue.

VK Singh, who retired on May 31, 2012, claimed he was born in 1951, contrary to official records that showed him a year older.

-via Hindustan Times.

Controversial Military Intelligence unit on verge of closure

A controversial military intelligence unit that was set up by previous Army chief General V K Singh has moved one step closer to being disbanded with all its officers moved to new assignments.

Although the unit, called the Technical Support Division (TSD), has not been officially shut down yet, it only has a token strength of soldiers left.

Sources said the officers had been posted out as their terms had come to an end but no replacements have been assigned. A board of officers under Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia is probing allegations that the unit was misused and violated many service rules.

It is learnt that the panel has looked into several allegations, including the illegal use of phone interceptors, and a final report has been submitted to Army HQ. The report also contains observations on allegations that funds worth Rs 20 crore were illegally diverted from secret funds of the military intelligence to the unit.

One allegation is that the funds were diverted to a Kashmir based organisation in 2010 that later filed a court case demanding action against then Lt Gen Bikram Singh in an old “fake encounter” case.

Sources said that while the legal process will be followed, it is only a matter of time before the TSD is formally disbanded.

-via Indian Express.

MI spends more on secret funds, MoD wants to know why

Ajay Banerjee.

The Ministry of Defence has objected to a sudden and unusual surge in the use of secret funds by the Army’s Military Intelligence (MI) and sought details from the Service on the funds that are spent on pursuits not exactly military in nature.

Objections relate to spending during the period when relations between the defence ministry and the Army were at an all-time low over then Army Chief Gen VK Singh’s date of birth.

Government sources confirmed that a top Defence Ministry official has asked the MI to explain the nearly 33 per cent increase in spending of secret funds during the financial year ending March 2012 over the previous year.

In terms of figures, the government wants to know how Rs 67 crore was spent under a particular head during the last financial year as compared to an expenditure of Rs 49 crore in 2010-11.

As per laid down norms, secret funds of the MI, like those of other snooping agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, are not subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

In the case of the Military Intelligence, an internal audit is conducted at a high-level and the file is cleared by the Defence Secretary. The audited report remains secret and is neither tabled in Parliament nor can it be accessed through the Right to Information Act. Funds are allocated under the budget and have to be spent as per the mandate of the agency.

Some weeks ago, the Defence Ministry returned the file to Military Intelligence with objections after perusing through it in order to clear the internal audit report for the expenditure of Rs 67 crore.

Spending of such funds is usually made by formations for intelligence and counter-intelligence operations in areas where the Army in deployed. Objections relate to part of the funds, allegedly not used for the purposes mandated.

“The spending is being examined to see if the mandate of the MI was exceeded in any manner,” well-placed sources said.

As per the practice, the Defence Secretary clears the audited report to complete the process of government overseeing use of slush funds. Unusual spending by the MI of funds with a specific mandate attracted attention of the internal auditors. The issue is expected to lead to some changes in the way the MI spends its money.

Sources said new Army Chief General Bikram Singh has directed all regiments and units to account for every paisa spent and scrupulously follow established accounting norms.

Sources said the ministry is also against the MI’s Technical Support Division whose work came under the scanner after reports of phone-tapping of top Ministry officials surfaced in the media earlier this year. The IB was called by the Ministry to electronically “sweep” the rooms of the Defence Minister and other top officials in the South Block.

Money Trail

• Spending surged when the Army Chief’s age row was at its peak
• Unusual spending by the MI of funds with a specific mandate attracted the attention of internal auditors
• Secret funds of the MI, IB and RAW are not subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General
• For the MI, an internal audit is conducted and cleared by the Defence Secretary, but the report remains secret

-via The Tribune, Chandigarh

Jawan caught for spying a victim of factional feud

Deeptimaan Tiwary.

Information available with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) indicates that a Military Intelligence (MI) havaldar, who was arrested recently in a joint operation involving DRI and MI, was not involved with Pakistan’s ISI but may have been caught up in the intense factional feud within the Army.

Sources said the only thing that has emerged is the functional and operational details of the Technical Support Division (TSD), which is part of the directorate general of military intelligence, where the havildar was a head clerk. TSD was created after General V K Singh became the Army chief, and is headed by Colonel Honey Bakshi, one of his confidantes.

The information on the havaldar wanting to sell army secrets to ISI is being considered dubious given that even Intelligence Bureau (IB) had refused to take heed of it.

Initial information was received by DRI through a Dubai-based smuggler-turned-informer. He informed a DRI official that an MI official wanted to sell military secrets and had got in touch with him through his Kochi-based cousin.

Initially, DRI itself doubted the information. However, the smuggler arranged a meeting between him and the MI havildar in a Mumbai hotel, and helped a DRI official clandestinely identify the suspect. “A packet containing some stuff too was exchanged between them. This convinced DRI that the smuggler was perhaps telling the truth,” said the source.

However, as the case had nothing to do with Customs, DRI passed on the information to IB. Surprisingly, however, IB refused pay heed to the information and initiate any action, indirectly casting doubt on the information, said the source.

Subsequently, DRI informed the Army and the two laid a trap to arrest him. However, not much, except information on past operations done by TSD and details of its officers, was found on the havaldar. “Overall, it has revealed the functioning of TSD to rest of MI,” said the source.

Earlier, TSD faced allegations of illegal surveillance of senior officials and politicians. However, the allegations were fiercely denied by Gen V K Singh.

-via The Times of India.

Why Lt Col Purohit’s case may have the Army searching for cover

Nitin Gokhale & Shamik Ghosh.

After a court of inquiry conducted in Mumbai, the Army has to decide whether there are enough grounds to dismiss Lt Col Prasad Purohit, who is in Taloja Jail, near Navi Mumbai. For the Army, the case is full of grey areas. Lt Col Purohit has been charged by Maharashtra’s Anti-Terror Squad of belonging to extreme right-wing extremist group Abhinav Bharat, which allegedly planted a bomb in the state’s Malegaon town in September 2008, killing six people.

Lt Col Purohit has always claimed that he had kept his bosses in the loop on every intelligence operation that he undertook including infiltrating into the fledgling Abhinav Bharat.

Lt Col Purohit says he infiltrated the group because that was his job as a Military Intelligence officer.

The Army says that’s not correct. But there are documents that show that Lt Col Purohit had earlier shared close ties with the Students Islamic Movement of India or SIMI, banned in 2001 as a terrorist organisation. An Annual Confidential Report (ACR)in NDTV’s possession has a senior officer praising Lt Col Purohit. “The officer has infiltrated the SIMI and other underground outfits in the region through his capabilities and go-getter attitude.

Dependable, Lt Col Purohit is a good team player.” A year later, a similar report said, “…with the basic knowledge of Arabic language and Islamic culture, he provided valuable int (intelligence) on Tabliq-e-Jamat and MFO (Muslim Fundamentalist Organisations) which was well appreciated by the environment….”

The Army has, however, refused to respond to NDTV’s queries on these reports, raising this question: Does the Army go beyond its mandate in keeping under-cover tabs on organisations even in non-combat areas?

Lt. Gen RK Sawhney (retd), a former DG of Military Intelligence puts it in perspective: “Basically only in insurgency areas, Army goes ahead and does this job. There are not very clear cut rules .. there are grey areas when deployed in peace areas but if a piece of intelligence is available there are ways to share it and coordinate with other agencies.”

The Army will have to explain that while Lt Col Purohit’s infiltration of organisations like SIMI was officially recognised, how did his activities in fraternising with right-wing groups go unnoticed?

-via NDTV

Brother of military spy held for fraud

Ajay Kanth.

Even as the Military Intelligence (MI) nabbed an army personnel for allegedly attempting to sell sensitive military information on a tip off by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from the state, the city police said the brother of the accused along with his friend had been earlier arrested in connection with a case of fraud from Kalamassery.

The city police discovered the connection between the army havildar clerk Shyam Das, accused of espionage and wrongly identified in media reports as Sivadasan, and the two arrested persons, Das’ brother Binu Das and Ajeeb, when DRI approached the Kalamassery police for the laptop and mobile phones used by the duo who were arrested for allegedly attempting to dupe a bank by pledging imitation gold.

According to police officials, both Binu Das and Ajeeb were arrested a month back by the Kalamasserry police. At the time of arrest, the duo were carrying a laptop and two mobile phones.

“Binu Das is the younger brother of the army person who was nabbed by MI. His actual name is Shyam Das and not Sivadasan as reported. Ajeeb is a close friend of both Shyam Das and Binu Das. The duo has been released on a bail by a local court,” the police said.

“While the two were in our custody, a team of DRI officials approached us asking for the laptop and the mobile phones. We handed over the devices to the DRI, which were handed back to us after a few days,” officials said.

Police said that they were yet to ascertain if the two had any role in connection with the incident in which the army person, a havildar clerk with the Technical Support Division of the army, was nabbed by the DRI.

“It has been learnt that the two have been to Mumbai for some purpose. As our case relates only to the fraud, we have not inquired into other aspects,” officials said.

-via The Times of India.

Army infighting, not spying, led to MI arrest?

Josy Joseph.

Arrest of a Military Intelligence official a few weeks ago for his purported links to Pakistani intelligence could be the fallout of the intense factional feud within the Army between supporters of former Army chief General V K Singh and his detractors, and may have nothing to do with espionage.

According to Army sources, Havildar Shivdasan, who is in the custody of the Southern Army Command, recorded a detailed video testimony a few days ago about what led to his arrest. He was nabbed in Kerala in April after he allegedly tried to sell off military secrets. Reports had said that he was selling it to Pakistani intelligence through a relative in the Gulf.

However, the story may be different, if Army sources are to be believed. Shivdasan has named a colonel of Military Intelligence, saying the officer had asked him to part with the secrets for “internal” purposes.

According to Shivdasan’s testimony, he was offered money and other benefits by the colonel if he parted with secrets of the Technical Support Division (TSD), a new division of Military Intelligence set up by Gen VK Singh and headed by his confidante Col Honey Bakshi. Shivdasan was the head clerk of TSD and thus had access to sensitive details of the division.

TSD has in the past been accused by Gen Singh’s detractors of illegally tapping phones of senior officials, political leadership etc. TSD and its “illegal activities” has also been the subject of repeated anonymous complaints filed with the defence minister and other top brass of the government.

According to sources, Shivdasan claimed that he was assured that the secrets of TSD were required only for internal consumption of the Army and was probably to “fix” Bakshi. The Army havildar has confessed that he was taken to Mumbai among other places during the period he was cultivated by the colonel.

Shivdasan finally handed over a CD containing some secrets, including possibly details of some MI sources, payments made to them and some operations carried out, in Thiruvananthapuram. According to sources, the CD was handed over to a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) official, and a second Army officer was also present when the CD was handed over. The Army officer flashed his official identity card to win over Shivdasan’s trust, according to those in the know of the ongoing investigation in Southern Army Command.

Shivdasan was arrested much later, when the DRI alerted the Southern Command, which in turn informed the Army headquarters. Shivdasan was probably assured that it would remain within the Army and he had nothing to fear. But he may have given the detailed testimony in recent days after media reports emerged terming him an ISI spy.

If the Army sources and Shivdasan’s testimony are anything to go by, then the intense factional feud within the Army is nowhere near a final settlement despite Gen Singh’s retirement. The faultlines of caste and regimental loyalties that were further intensified when Gen Singh went to Supreme Court on his age issue, threatening the succession lines, may not disappear anytime soon. Over the coming weeks, there could be further score settling and muck raked up to fix rivals.

-via The Times of India.

People inside Army plotted against me: VK Singh

Gen VK Singh

Army chief Gen VK Singh, whose date of birth was mired in a huge controversy, has alleged that a “lot of money” was spent by people within the force to get a “false” birth certificate and tarnish his image as he had stopped their wrongdoings.

He said he had evidence that people within the Army were behind the “derogatory and completely fake” stories against him and action was being taken against them.

“A lot of people went on a drive to tarnish my image because they were not happy with the cleansing action I had taken. You will be suprised to know the amount of money which was spent to get the false certificate about by date of birth,” Gen Singh told ‘The Week’ magazine.

Asked who was spending the money to defame him, he responded, “There were a large number of people. A lot of money was given to a lot of people to do stories against me.

The stories were derogatory and completely fake.” When pointed out that one retired Lt General has already been accused of plotting against him, he said, “He was not the only one. We have identified a number of people.”

He said, “We have evidence of how documents were leaked and how much money was given” and that they were within the Army.

Queried whether he was surprised that serving officers were working against him, the Army Chief said, “In a large organisation like ours, you will always have people who feel left out. There were people who were doing wrong things but after we stopped those things, they turned against me.”

“We have evidence and necessary action is being taken,” Gen Singh said, adding, “If someone has betrayed the Army, there will be punishment. This is the rule of the Army.”

Gen Singh was mired in a huge controversy over his date of birth. The Army’s two branches — Adjutant General Branch and Military Secretary Branch — had two sets of dates of his birth — one having May 10, 1951 and another May 10, 1950.

He always maintained that his actual year of birth was 1951, which would give him nine-month extension from May-end this year, and dragged the government to the Supreme Court on this. However, he lost the legal battle there and will hence retire in May.

Asked about his relationship with Defence Minister AK Antony, the Army chief said, “He was always good to me” and “there has never been a single difference” between them.

“I was plain-spoken with him and he appreciated that,” Gen Singh said.

Whether that relationship was good despite the bugging controversy, he asserted that there was no bugging.

“The fact is that our team came across some discrepancies while checking the Defence Minister’s room on February 16,” he said, adding Director General of Military Intelligence then informed Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma about it and recommended to him to seek the help of other agencies to verify why there were discrepancies.

“If the suspicion was on the military, the Defence Minister would have stopped MI (military intelligence) from checking his room. We still conduct checking of his room.”

-via ZEE News