Rana dares Gen Singh to name J&K ministers taking money

Jammu, Sept 23:

's

on Monday night took a strong exception to the allegations levelled by former army chief Gen V K Singh about some

in the state taking money and dared him to name the recipients.

"It is indeed a sad and unfortunate day for the Indian nation and the Indian Army in particular that the former Army Chief is making such reckless and unsubstantiated statements", Rana said while reacting to the allegations made by General Singh to television channels this evening", provincial president of National Conference Devender Singh Rana said.

Reports said that attempts were made to topple the J&K govt during Singh's time

He was responding to the claims made by Gen Singh, who is in the eye of a storm over reports that attempts were made to topple Jammu and Kashmir government during his tenure as Army Chief, that "certain ministers" in the state are given money by the army for "stability" and that this has been going on since Independence.

Rana described as "unfortunate" the bid to "sensationalize" the matter by the former army chief "in a bid to divert the attention from the core issue".

The provincial president dared the former army chief to name the ministers of Jammu and Kashmir taking money and said if the name of any National Conference minister figures, he will be sacked by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as National Conference believes in morality and probity in public life. "As far as Mr Mir is concerned, after the statement of General Singh, it is he who has to address to his conscience", Rana added.

PTI