Indian Army’s secret funds under probe

New Delhi – While the growing nexus between the Indian military intelligence and extremist Hindu outfits, particularly in the backdrop of Samjhauta Express terror attack has already alarmed the regional and global powers,Indian Defense Ministry has put its Army’s spending from its secret intelligence funds under scrutiny after it surfaced that these were misused by Army HQ over the past year. The secret funds, which are utilized through the Military Intelligence (MI) Directorate, are audited internally by the Army but are, ought to be cleared by the Defence Secretary.

Well placed sources revealed to The Daily Mail that the Defense Ministry has put the statement of accounts presented by the Army for 2011-12 under the scanner. While an amount of close to Rs 42 crore had been allocated under the head for the last financial year, the Army ended up spending a far greater amount, close to Rs 57 crore.

Sources said the competent authority has not cleared the accounts as ‘large amounts’ that have been spent cannot be cleared by “without checking”. “The competent authority has to be certain before clearing such large amounts. The accounts will be scrutinized carefully,” an official conversant with the matter said.

Despite repeated efforts, the Defence Ministry refused to comment on the matter. However, sources said the Ministry has not taken the extreme step of freezing funds under the same head for this financial year as it would have repercussions for operational preparedness.

Sources said the Defence Secretary has not given his approval to last year’s spending after several signed and unsigned representations were received by the ministry, alleging misuse of the secret funds by Army HQ.

By the very nature of the matter, the secret funds are never externally audited and the CAG has no jurisdiction over the matter. Internal checks and balances, however, call for a strict audit within the Army, with the help of financial advisers , that is ultimately sent to the Defense Secretary for clearance.

These funds are meant for things like paying of informants, gathering of field intelligence from across the border, purchase of sensitive equipment that should not be made public.

Similar funds are available to other intelligence organizations like the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, though the amounts are much larger.
It is worth mentioning here that independent investigations by different probing authorities in India have clearly indicated of existence of a very strong nexus between top level Indian military officials, particularly belonging to its Military Intelligence (MI) and the hardcore Hindu militant outfits.
A very serious investigation headed by Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare had brought forwards the names of a number of serving and retired officers of Indian army for being involved in many terror operations, conducted with the connivance of different Hindu fanatic outfits with the Samjhauta Express inferno being the top one. A Serving officer of the Indian army, Lt. Col. Shrikant Prasad Purohit was arrested by Mumbai ATS along with at least 8 other serving or retired army officers while the Indian army is still trying to get the names of its officers cleared from terrorists’ list.
The Daily Mail’s investigations further reveal that New Delhi has been portraying itself as a victim of “Pakistan sponsored terrorism,” which is actually the handy work of its own Military Intelligence in connivance with the home-grown Saffron terrorists.

These investigations indicate that witnesses had told the investigators that the RDX used in Samjhauta blasts was supplied by MI officer, Lt. Col Purohit procured by him from the Army Ordinance Depot in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The investigations further reveal that the sophisticated locking mechanism used by the Indian Army was employed for all these blasts. According to the official Indian sources, the Hindutva terror outfits were trained in making sophisticated Low Intensity Explosive Devices by the Army which are very lethal and effective but require less quantity of explosive material and same were used to trigger inferno in the Samjhauta Express. The same batch of SIM cards used in numerous blasts by Abhinav Bharat pointed to the link up of MI and the Hindutva terrorist outfit. Narayanan who in his capacity as NSA was the overall Chief of IB, RAW and Joint Intelligence Directorate that includes MI, at this point instructed the investigators to hush up the MI-Hindutva connection.

These investigations further suggest that Indian investigating authorities were quick to blame Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Even as late as February 2009 Indian Intelligence Bureau claimed LeT to be responsible for the Samjoutha blasts although MI-Hindutva connection was well known to New Delhi by that time.

The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that more that one-and-half year after Samjhauta Express blasts another low-intensity bomb with powerful impact exploded in the small town of Malegaon, Maharashtra, on 29 September 2008, leaving six dead and several injured. It was this blast that put Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS)’s slain Chief Hemant Karkare on the trail of self-styled God-woman called Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur belonging to Abhinav Bharat. Pragya’s interrogation and calls’ data from her cell phone opened a Pandora’s Box. Her close associate Shamlal Sahu, 42, a commerce graduate, was first to be arrested on charges of planting the bomb. Shivnarayan Kalangasara Singh, 36, a science graduate, was arrested for setting a timer device in the bomb. Another science graduate, Sameer Kulkarni, 32, was arrested for his role in procuring chemicals for the bomb. The second big catch after Pragya was Maj (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, 64, a resident of Pune. He had worked in the Indian Army’s Military Intelligence (MI) and had imparted training to those who had assembled the bombs planted in Malegoen. He had also headed the BJP’s ex-servicemen’s cell in Mumbai. The biggest fish was however, netted by Karkare on November 5, merely days ahead of 26/11 Mumbai attack, the first ever serving army officer, Lt. Col Purohit, belonging to MI, was arrested for procuring the RDX used in the blast. Arrest of Purohit however, proved more than Karkare could handle for he was later assassinated by Hindutva terrorists under the cover of Mumbai attack on 26/11. Congress Party’s Senior Secretary General Digvijay Singh has proved beyond doubt by showing phone records that Karkare called him merely a few hours before being assassinated saying he feared for his life as he was being threatened of dire consequences if he did not stop probe into the terrorist activities of MI and Saffron terrorist syndicates. Karkare requested assurance of security and safety for himself and his family requesting Digvijay to talk to the Congress high command. According to Digvijay his first reaction when he heard the news of Karkare’s assassination was “oh my God they (Saffron terrorists) have killed him”

Saffron Terror Tapes exposed MI-Hindutva nexus
The Daily Mail’s findings reveal that Karkare hit a minefield with the arrest of another Saffron operative Swami Dayanand Pandey alias Shankar Acharya-Shukhakar Dwivedi, on 14 November that completely exposed the MI and Abhinav Bharat link. Swami Pandey had a habit of recording all his conversations with his co-conspirators on his laptop. The ATS retrieved three videos and 37 audiotapes. These proved to be an unprecedented source of information. On 21 November, 5-days before 26/11 attack, Karkare questioned Pune’s RSS leader Shyam Apte, named in the tapes. By now RSS and Army were screaming calling Karakare’s line of investigations “blasphemous”.

The Audio tapes revealed a chilling landscape. Political bigwigs, RSS functionaries, Sangh Parivar activists, Hindutva terrorist outfits, as well as serving and retired Indian army officers all formed an integral part of the conspiracy. The tapes spilled vitriolic hate for Pakistan, Muslims and even Hindus who did not subscribe to their ultra right-wing communal vision. The Group had set up Abhinav Bharat with the intention of infiltrating and subverting every institution in the country, particularly the Armed Forces, bureaucracy, media, TV, films and civil society.

The Daily Mail’s investigations reveal that there are a total of ten serving and retired Indian army officers, whose names figure in the tapes. There are however, clear indications that the network has deep institutional roots in Indian army from top officers to the low levels of ordinary soldiers. At least four of the officers, named in the recordings have an MI background. Apart from Lt. Col Purohit and Maj Upadhyay, who are now in jail, there are names of General JJ Singh -Purohit’s mentor in Maratha Regiment, Brig Mathur (full name not known, but he was apparently posted at Deolali Cantonment near Nashik); Col Hasmukh Patel. A JNU graduate, Patel was commissioned into the Infantry Jat Regiment and later detailed with the MI. He is a specialist in threat analysis, background checks, physical- electronic-aviation security, vigilance, investigations, disaster management, negotiation and loss prevention. The investigators are understood to have questioned him recently. Col Shailesh Raikar is a retired commandant, who belonged to the Maratha Regiment. According to the recordings, Raikar was commander of the Bhosla Military Academy in Nashik. He provided academy facilities to Purohit and other Abhinav Bharat members for weapons training. Others named in the tapes are Col. Aditya Bappaditya Dhar ; Maj. Nitin Joshi and Maj. Prayag Modak. No concrete action is yet to be initiated by the investigators against them. Apart from these men, there is a Brig. Lajpat Prajwal, posted on deputation with the Nepal Army. According to the tapes, Purohit and Brig Prajwal had trained together at Indian Military Academy (IMA) and that Purohit was in constant touch with him for logistic support.

Although, Lt. Col Purohit has been arrested, Indian Army has still not proceeded against other officers involved or initiated court martial.
The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that it has also been revealed that Lt. Col Purohit speaks in the recordings of sending thousands to Israel and Nepal for terrorist training. According to one Maharashtra ATS official “most of what Purohit says on the tapes about sending people to Nepal and Israel for training wasn’t taken seriously, and deliberately overlooked” adding “the entire truth on Purohit is still not out.” These recorded conversations between Lt. Col Purohit, Maj Ramesh Upadhyay, Col Dhar, Swamy Dayanand Pandey, BL Sharma; a two-time BJP MP, and RP Singh; an endocrinologist at Apollo Hospital and President of the World Hindu Federation, reveal diabolic conspiracies and hair raising terrorist activities. The World Hindu Federation also has active offices in US and Europe and collects enormous amounts of funds from the Non Resident Indians (NRIs), using these to promote communal agenda and terrorist activities. The transcript also sheds light on the links between Nepal’s deposed King Gyanendra and Indian Military Intelligence. Gyandendra took over after grisly murder of his brother King Birendra, under mysterious circumstances. Most Nepalese think King Birendra was got assassinated by Gyanendra with the help of Indian agents.

Here is an excerpt on the conversation on Israeli nexus:
LT COL PUROHIT: Swamiji, we haven’t spoken about certain things, but two operations have been done by us. One of our own officers has visited Israel for training and meeting and there was a very positive response… We demanded four things from Israel — continuous and uninterrupted supply of arms and training, our office with a saffron flag in Tel Aviv, political asylum and support for our cause of a Hindu Nation in the UN. Israel has asked us to show something on the ground and have promised at least a supply of arms and political asylum… I have a state-wise population of Muslims in each state but we need more arms and ammunition including AK-47s. We couldn’t buy much earlier because we didn’t have funds, now we have plenty.
MAJ UPADHYAY: AK-47 is available at Cox Bazaar in Gorakhpur, we can buy more from open sources as military weapons and ammunition can draw suspicion…

LT. COL PUROHIT: The Israelis ask us to give them proof of our involvement. What more proof do they need? We have completed two successful operations (investigators believe that Purohit was referring here to Samjhauta and Ajmer blasts).

MAJ UPADHYAY: Don’t forget, the Hyderabad blasts were also executed by our man.
Elsewhere in the tapes, Purohit elaborates on other sinister strategies the Abhinav Bharat group plans on adopting against Pakistan and Muslims — including shooting people under false identities to create mayhem.

“I know that the army and the BSF don’t complement each other’s action,” says Purohit. “Nor there is any coordination between the BSF, CRPF and state police. So if I buy two army vehicles from the scrap and paint them with army colours and send them along with our people in army uniform into Meerut, they can just fire and come out of the situation easily. There is so much confusion in this country.” The conversion betrays similar action taken by the Indian military intelligence when Purohit was posted in IOK. MI operatives and Abhinav Bharat members dressed in Army uniform, had slaughtered Sikh community members in Chattisinghpura, IOK, when former US President Clinton was visiting India in 2001 and blamed it on LeT.

The fact that these conversations were not recorded under police custody or during interrogation is significant. An IB official based in Mumbai has raised a pertinent question that Lt. Col Purohit cannot smuggle RDX and weapons from IOK Army depot on his own nor can he alone sponsor sending men for military training to Nepal and Israel.” Surley a wider involvement of MI is apparent. This question has even more alarming implications when one recalls that in the narco reports of Nanded blasts accused, Himanshu Panse and Sanjay Bhaurao Chaudhury, in 2006, the men clearly stated of how Army’s Col Chitaley alias Mithun Chakrabarty had trained them to make the IEDs for the blasts at the Sinhagad Fort. It may be recalled that Col Chitaley was the Chief Instructor in the Suicide Bombing Training Squad set up by RSS under General Premnath Hoon.

A senior Maharastra ATS Official disclosed that after Lt. Col Purohit’s arrest, there was a lot of pressure on them to downplay the role of the army. Army argued: “We were told we couldn’t lower the morale of officers posted in sensitive positions. It could have a backlash. But with more cases involving military intelligence officials coming out, confirmed a dangerous trend.” The MI is an important and lethal corps, even senior Army officers dread at its mere mention due to the arbitrary powers enjoyed by its personnel. MI especially focuses on destabilizing, conducting and sponsoring terrorist activities in Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Middle East. Many MI cadre officers (Lt. Col Purohit was one of them) do not wear uniforms and work in conjunction with the IB, BSF (‘G’ Force) and other intelligence agencies. MI officials work in field formations and report to their respective commanders. Nobody, except the commander, would know they are part of MI. Sources disclosed that Lt. Col Purohit had learned Arabic at the Army Education Corps Training Centre and College in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, in order to coordinate with Al-Qaeda and Arab-Afghans. The disclosures of Lt. Col Purohit have exposed the Indian Army’s terrorist and communal overtones.

Swami Aseemanand’s Confession

The Daily Mail’s investigations further reveal that role of Indian MI and Hindutva terrorists behind the spate of terrorist acts including Samjhauta Express blasts, became further clear when investigators arrested Swami Aseemanand, one of the plotters. A Gujarat resident Bharat Bhai had deposed before the court that during various meetings held at Swami Aseemanand’s Ashram (Hindu seminary) numerous terrorist attacks including Samjhauta Express blasts were planned. After the Maharashtra ATS arrested Sadhvi Pragya in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast, Aseemanand went absconding. He was finally arrested from Haridwar on 19 November 2010.

Swami Aseemanand’s spine chilling confession has reconfirmed and provided strong legal evidence of RSS Pracharaks (proselytizers)’ involvement in the blasts that took place at the Malegoen (Maharastra)in 2006 and 2008, Samjhauta Express in 2007, Ajmer (Rajasthan) in 2007, Mecca Mosque (Hyderabad) in 2007 and Modasa (Gujarat) in 2008.

In his recorded statement Aseemanand exposed involvement of numerous Hindutva leaders, including himself, in planning and executing a string of terror attacks against Pakistanis and Muslims. The account rendered by Aseemanad corroborated with the evidence revealed by the Abhinav Bharat’s other arrested leaders Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Dayanand Pandey, Lt. Col Shrikant Purohit. The 37 audio tapes seized from Swami Pandey’s laptop that featured all these people discussing their terror activities also corroborate with Aseemanand’s confession.

MI-Hindutva nexus reconfirmed:
The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that shedding light on the inner workings of the Hindutva terror network, Aseemanand stated in his confession that it was not just an isolated group like the ultra-right wing terrorist organization like Abhinav Bharat that engineered blasts but, shockingly, Indian Military Intelligence and RSS were fully involved in the planning, financing and execution of these terrorist acts. According to Aseemanand, MI’s Lt. Col Purohit and RSS’s national executive member Indresh Kumar handpicked and financed numerous RSS Pracharaks (proselytizers) to carry out terror attacks. Aseemanand told the court that “Indresh Kumar met him at Shabri Dham (Aseemanand’s seminary in the Dangs district of Gujarat) sometime in 2005, accompanied by many top RSS functionaries”. Inderjeet told Aseemanad that he had deputed Sunil Joshi for terror attacks and asked him to extend Joshi whatever help he required.” Aseemanand further narrated how Indresh financed Joshi for his terror activities and provided him men to plant bombs. Aseemanand also confessed to his own role in the terror plots and how he had motivated a bunch of RSS Pracharaks (proselytizers) and other Hindu radicals to carry out terror strikes at Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit has written to the chief of Indian Army, General Bikram Singh, claiming his innocence.

An Indian media organization,Headlines Today accessed Purohit’s letter which alleges that he was illegally detained and abducted by a senior military intelligence (MI) officer in connivance with the Maharashtra Police’s Anti Terror Squad (ATS).

“I prefer death over dishonour,” Purohit writes to army chief claiming that he was innocent and was implicated in the 2008 blast case by his seniors.

In the letter, Purohit accuses his superior Col R.K. Srivastava of saying “I will ensure that you and your entire family, mother, wife and sister would be behind bars and your children will be raised as orphans and it’s my promise” when he was in the “illegal custody of ATS”.