Terming reports about "unusual" troop movements towards Delhi as "very serious", the CPI today asked defence minister A. K. Antony to clarify what had actually happened and sought a probe into the incident as well as the reported differences between the Army and the Ministry.
"Unfortunately, this report has come in the backdrop of reported misgivings between the army and the defence ministry. There has to be a comprehensive inquiry into all these things. These issues cannot be separated as these are matters concerning national security," new CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told reporters here. "The defence minister should make a statement clarifying what exactly had happened (regarding the army movement). It is a very serious matter," he said when asked about the report appearing in a daily.
The government has already rubbished the report about "unusual" troop movement on the night of January 16-17 when an entire mechanised infantry unit based in Hissar (Haryana) with its fighting vehicles and a sizeable section of the Agra-based 50 Para Brigade began moving towards Delhi.