Pune:
The Army has denied manhandling a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing alleged irregularities at Pune's Army's command hospital.
The team of the CBI's anti-corruption wing was reportedly manhandled when they swooped down on the hospital for a search operation.
The search was being conducted based on some specific complaints of irregularities and corrupt practices at the hospital.
According to some reports, there were some items at the hospital which were not accounted for and the hospital staff could not produce receipts of the same.
The team hence seized some documents and conducted a panchnama report. When they were about eight hours into the operation, the commandant in charge of the hospital, Major General Surendra Panwar, objected to the raid and in a fit of anger, snatched all documents including the panchnama report from the CBI team and virtually forced them to leave the premises.
The team had to then take the help of the local police to get back into the hospital and complete their search.
Police in Pune have filed a complaint against Major General Surendra Panwar. But Army sources have told NDTV that the CBI team did not take permission from the Station Commander, which is a mandatory requirement to enter or search defence premises. They cite this as the reason for denying entry to the CBI team. They also denied any manhandling or obstruction.
Some Armymen also misbehaved with the waiting media and snatched the camera of the NDTV crew.
It was later returned when media persons decided to file a complaint with senior Army officers.