House panel grills Army on Keran claims

The panel was informed that the unit was disbanded after a review was carried out.

With repeated incidents on the Line of Control (LoC) raising concerns across political parties,the Army Monday was grilled by the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on the claims that had been made on the operation in Kupwaras Keran sector that had come under scrutiny.

Sources said questions were raised on the operations in which initially the Army had claimed to have shot 12-15 infiltrators and trapped 30-40 more and was informed that an inquiry into the matter has been ordered and its findings would be shared with the committee once it has been completed.

While the Army is believed to have maintained its position that there was no cause of concern in the Keran operations,it informed the panel that an inquiry into the matter is taking place on the directions of the Defence Minister and a report would soon be shared.

Story continues below this ad

Questions were also raised in the meeting on the inquiry report into the functioning of the controversial Technical Support Division,an Military Intelligence Unit set up by former Army Chief V K Singh.

The panel was informed that the unit was disbanded after a review was carried out and it was not found to be a necessary part of the Army.

Though details of the TSDs functioning or the findings of a report on it were not discussed,the panel was told that the disbanding was a standard practice and an audit procedure as followed that recommended that it was not required.

The Army is also believed to have told the panel that it is giving a befitting reply to the repeated ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army and admitted that there has been an escalation in recent months.

Donald Trump may replace H-1B lottery with wage-based selection process

World1 hr ago

Days after hiking the fees for new H-1B applications to $100,000, the Donald Trump administration has proposed to overhaul the visa process for high-skilled non-immigrant workers. The Trump administration has suggested a wage-based selection process for the H-1B programme, instead of the current lottery system.

View all shorts

Live Blog