The alleged involvement of retired and serving officers in the Malegaon blast is an “aberration”, but the Armed Forces need to view it as a warning and remain alert for the future, feel former Armed Forces chiefs and senior retired officers.With a retired Major in the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad net on charges of providing training to the main accused in the blast, former chiefs have said that while an odd aberration can take place, the incident is not indicative of any larger trend in the Armed Forces. “If such an incident has happened it should be a warning to everyone that the Armed Forces should remain alert. It is more of a warning and the Army needs to be alert that such cases do not happen,” former Army Chief General V P Malik said.“The case is no cause for alarm and we have enough safeguards in the Armed Forces (to deal with such matters). This is one case in 60 years, anyone can go haywire. But by and large the ethos (of ex-servicemen) is sufficiently strong,” former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash said. Cracking down on extremism within the Armed Forces is part of the mandate of the Counter Intelligence Wing.While the ATS is investigating retired Major Ramesh Upadhayay’s links with the main accused in the Malegaon blast, the former officer had a clean record while in service and did not face any major disciplinary action.After joining the Army as a soldier, Upadhayay undertook a special exam—aimed at identifying exceptional soldiers—at the Army Cadet College (ACC) to join the officer’s cadre. The officer served in various streams of the Army and his final positing was with the Air Defence Artillery (ADA), a regiment that is assigned air protection roles of vital Army units and formations. It was after he left the service in 1998 that the retired officer had a few brushes with the law and was even arrested by the police in Mumbai on charges of stalking a woman and posting indecent comments about her on a website. He was also convicted in a cheque bouncing case. The ex-officer had also joined the BJP as president of its ex-servicemen cell in Maharashtra and was actively involved with the RSS.However, ex-servicemen believe his background as an ex-officer has nothing to do with the involvement in the blast. “He is not the first Armed Forces man to break the law. There will always be the odd element and this should not be taken as an indication of things to come,” former Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi said.
