Defence Ministry to take inquiry call on bribery allegations against Lt General

NEW DELHI: The defence ministry will decide by early next week whether to conduct an inquiry against a senior Lieutenant General against whom bribery allegations have been made, top defence sources said.

Former Chief of Army Staff and minister of state (MoS) for external affairs Gen VK Singh (Retd) had added fuel to rumours of allegations against a senior Lt Gen posted at Army HQ on the social media last week. "Shame is too small to describe this. RM (Raksha Mantri) must come down hard to cleanse the system," he had tweeted in response to a post alleging impropriety by a serving officer.

Sources said that defence minister Manohar Parrikar met with Singh on Wednesday. The details of the conversation have not been disclosed. The Chief of the Army Staff, who is currently in Russia, is slated to return on Wednesday and consultations could take place with him on the matter.

The Army has been strongly denying all rumours of corruption allegations against the serving officer. On Thursday, Army HQ reiterated its stand and said no one should fall prey to "the false and malicious campaign being orchestrated against a General Officer of the Indian Army".