Months after allegations of misuse of funds surfaced against director-general of Assam Rifles Lt. Gen. Rameshwar Roy, the Union home ministry has posted Lt. Gen. Roy back to the ministry of defence (MoD). Top home ministry officials confirmed the developments following which Lt. Gen. Roy will make way for a new director-general to succeed him.
After an enquiry, the home ministry had earlier indicated that the allegations against Lt. Gen. Roy were baseless and that the complaint was malafide. But the timing of the posting has now raised eyebrows. Lt. Gen. Roy retires in January, 2013.
The home ministry said the move to post Lt. Gen. Roy back to the MoD follows a request received from the MoD that his services were required back in the Army. However, Lt. Gen. Roy, who confirmed that he was handing over charge, said he had completed the mandatory one year of service as DG and that his posting follows this completion.
“There is no linkage between the allegations and the posting order. It is a normal turnover (of the tenure) and I will hand over charge to my second-in-command,” Lt. Gen. Roy told this newspaper.
The home ministry had ordered an internal enquiry on the complaint of alleged misappropriation of funds after the complaint was forwarded by the MoD.
The allegations pertained to misuse of regimental funds relating to expenditure on his wife’s clothing, hair dressing and other gifts. But Lt. Gen. Roy has described the allegations as baseless.
The home ministry had earlier sent a team to Shillong which conducted an extensive inquiry and obtained bills to account for almost the entire sum of `23,000 alleged to have been misused by Lt. Gen. Roy.
There was speculation earlier that Lt. Gen. Roy could face a Court of Inquiry in the Army.
The Assam Rifles, that guards the Indo-Burmese border, is a paramilitary force under the Union home ministry.