09 October 2004	Saturday	23 Shaban 1425

NEW DELHI, Oct 8: The Indian army on Friday charged a decorated senior officer with faking acts of gallantry while deployed on the Kashmir battlefront, the defence ministry said on Friday.

A military court opened court-martial proceedings against Major Surinder Singh of the elite Gorkha Regiment, charging him with inventing acts of valour last year atop the Siachen glacier in the disputed territory.

"Singh knowingly sent a false report on Sept 5 and 15 last year that enemy troops were constructing air-defence bunkers causing unnecessary alarm that led his commanding officer to make an assault on enemy positions," the court said.

It said Singh also sent "false reports" claiming three Pakistani soldiers had been killed and their imaginary bunker destroyed in August last year followed a month later with killing of two "enemy troops".

The scandal surfaced in May this year when Singh himself claimed that he and other regimental officers were forced by their commanding officer to stage fake battles at Siachen, one of the world's most inhospitable theatres of war.

Indian media has reported that Singh, who was even injured in the destruction of a bogus Pakistani bunker, blew the whistle on the fantasy last December after a disagreement with the commander.

Defence analysts say the scandal could put all military awards made during the three wars India has fought with Pakistan and one with China since 1947 under the microscope.

Indian and Pakistani forces face each other across the 6,300-metre high glacier and until the cease fire regularly clashed, exchanging rockets, mortar and artillery fire. -AFP