Did Army plan to topple Rajiv Gandhi govt in 1987?

New Delhi, Oct 5: Former Army commander of the Western Command Lt General PN Hoon has made shocking revelations. 86-year-old Hoon claimed that the Indian Army hatched a plan to coup Rajiv Gandhi government in 1987.

In his recently released book 'The Untold Truth', Hoon writes that three crack para-commando battalions, including one from the Western Command, were ordered to move for action in Delhi.

Former Army commander who joined BJP in December 2013 as adviser, defence and security alleged that the military coup was planned by former Army chief General Krishnaswami Sundarji and then vice chief, Lt. General S F Rodrigues.

In his book Hoon further claimed that some senior politicians who did not share cordial relations with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were also involved in the 'coup plot'.

Narrating the sequence of events during a farewell function in 1987, the Lt Gen in his book writes how Giani Zail Singh had blamed Rajiv Gandhi for corruption and 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The ET report writes, "Hoon has claimed that as chief of the Western Command in May-June 1987, he was in Delhi on official work when he received a message that a letter had been received at command headquarters from army HQ seeking three paracommando battalions"

After receiving the massage, Hoon immediately informed Rajiv Gandhi and his principal secretary Gopi Arora about the development.

Blaming Giani Zail Singh as the mastermind of the whole plot, he claimed that one of the Cabinet minister in Rajiv's Cabinet, V C Shukla was aware about the Army's plan to topple the government.

In the book, Hoon said that Zail Singh didn't execute coup plan as he believed that the power would shift to the armed forces.

OneIndia News