Army moves to probe head of covert intelligence wing

The TSD was set up to conduct covert military operations but ran into trouble when reports of alleged irregularities and indiscriminate use of secret service funds emerged.

The Army establishment is clearing the decks to institute an inquiry against Colonel Hunny Bakshi, Commanding Officer of the controversial Technical Services Division, a covert intelligence wing set up during the tenure of former Army Chief General V K Singh.

Sources have told The Indian Express that a review meeting for the inquiry was held by General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Delhi area earlier this week and legal advice on the subject is being sought.

This assumes added significance given reports in The Hindu Monday that several documents relating to the setting up of TSD and its functioning were destroyed following the setting up of a Board of Officers.

Story continues below this ad

Read: The working and controversies of TSD, the Army’s shadowy MI unit

The move to probe Colonel Bakshi comes three months after a 10-year jail term was pronounced by a General Court Martial (GCM) against Sham Das D, a clerk of the TSD, for allegedly trying to sell sensitive documents of the unit copied onto a CD.

This March, Colonel Bakshi had written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar (The Indian Express April 4, 2015 ) to keep a lid on all records of the GCM given what he called the sensitivity of TSD operations and the “national interest.”

Read: Jailed Havaldar privy to the secrets of disbanded unit

Story continues below this ad

The TSD was set up to conduct covert military operations but ran into trouble when reports of alleged irregularities and indiscriminate use of secret service funds emerged. Following the retirement of General V K Singh, an internal Army inquiry into the TSD’s functioning was ordered but while this report — with recommendations — was submitted in March 2013, no action was taken.

More importantly, the move comes almost two years after the GoC had recommended that in the wake of the action against Sham Das, “disciplinary action” should be initiated against the head of the unit. That order, dated November 7, 2013, called for “suitable disciplinary action to be taken against Colonel Hunny Bakshi, VSM, of Headquarters Karnataka and Kerala sub area for aforesaid lapses.”

Meanwhile, lawyers of Sham Das have now moved the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) for obtaining a copy of the entire GCM proceedings, excluding the exhibits, such as the CD containing secret TSD data. Said lawyer Anand Kumar: “Why should only a jawan of the TSD suffer and languish in jail and senior officers of the TSD not face any inquiry?”

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram