Army Moves Towards Delhi, Coups Rumors, PM Clarifies

Bangalore: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday rubbished a news report on "unusual" troop movement towards Delhi in the middle of January as "alarmist" and "absolutely baseless".

"These are alarmist reports. They should not be taken at face value," the Prime Minister told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

To a question on the standoff between government and the army chief, he said, "the Army Chief's office is an exalted office. All of us have an obligation to do nothing that would lower its dignity."

The Prime Minister was reacting to a report in the 'Indian Express' which said that on the night of January 16-17 an entire mechanised infantry unit based in Hisar (Haryana) with its fighting vehicles began moving towards Delhi, the day army chief Gen VK Singh approached the Supreme Court on the age issue.

A sizeable section of the Agra-based 50 Para Brigade also moved to near Palam. Both were stopped and ordered to be moved back, the report said, virtually suggesting a possible coup attempt.

According to the report, the Army had said that the exercise was to check effectiveness in fog.

(Agencies)