Anyone sullying army's fair name can't go scot-free: Congress

New Delhi: In the midst of the row over alleged misuse of a secret intelligence unit by former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, Congress on Saturday said anyone denigrating the fair name of the Indian Army "cannot go scot-free and will be punished".

"Silly explanations will not be satisfactory...It appears that Singh is struggling hard to defend himself. We do not want to attack any person. It is something what has happened according to military inquiry. Guilty will be taken to task. They will be punished", party spokesman PC Chacko told reporters in reply to a volley of questions.

Hailing the Indian Army as the most partiotic in the world which has been "democratic" and has never interfered in political matters, Chacko said if anyone tried to "denigrate the name of the Army, they cannot go scot-free". Asked whether Congress was ruling out a CBI inquiry into the matter, he said he was nobody to rule it out and it being a sensitive issue, needed to be handled with care. "Can't say. I am nobody to rule it out. From the party side, we are not suggesting anything," he said when asked whether a CBI inquiry can happen but added "there are certain elements of confidentiality, which should be maintained."

He made light of Gen Singh's demand for bringing out a white paper on the issue saying "if he has only coloured papers with himself, let him have some white paper." Chacko's remarks came close on the heels of Gen Singh dismissing the reports as "motivated" and terming as "most absurd" the allegations that he wanted to topple the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Reacting to reports that the Technical Support Division (TSD) was misused for unauthorised operations and indulged in financial wrongdoings, Singh claimed the Army and the Defence Ministry had found "nothing suspicious" against the unit in their probe and had sent it to the National Security Advisor (NSA) for closure.