Jodhpur, June 19
An Army officer, appearing as a witness in Siachen fake kills case, denied during a cross-examination in a military court here today that he had ever confessed before accused officer Major Surinder Singh that the killings in question were fake.
Major Surinder Singh, against whom a court of inquiry has recommended disciplinary action, asked Capt Ashwani Kumar Gaur if he had confessed before him that killings of enemy troops on August 9 last were fake. Captain Gaur denied having said that. He instead said the encounter was genuine.
“The encounter was genuine in which six enemy troops were killed on the night of August 8 last year,” he said. He again replied in negative when Major Surinder Singh asked him if he had ordered rifleman Shyam Bahadur Thapa to pose as a dead enemy soldier.
“Because we did not have video camera, we could not make video of the encounter. We requisitioned camera and cassettes from the base camp and made video next day morning,” Captain Gaur deposed. “We sent video recording with my commentary to the high-ups, who had been kept informed about the incident earlier too,” he said. Major Surinder Singh, however, did not cross-examine Captain Gaur on his yesterday’s deposition. However, when asked about the contents of the commentary, Captain Gaur said he did not remember what commentary he made in the videocassette. In the cross-examination, Major Surinder Singh centred most of his questions around technicalities of warfare. —
PTI
