Government should take action according to law on defence issue: Mamata

Kolkata, March 29 (IANS) As the row between the central government and the army chief got murkier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said the central government must take action as per the law of the land.

"We are proud of our army and defence forces. The government should take action according to law. The matter is of national concern. it is about national honour. It is not right to play with a matter which is of national honour," said Banerjee.

Asked to comment on Trinamool Congress MP Ambika Banerjee's letters to the prime minister and the defence minister on disputed deals, the chief minister said: "I really don't know about the matter. MPs sometimes write to the PM based on their own information.

"But if Ambika Banerjee has written a letter a year ago then it should have been investigated. There should be a probe."

"Antonyji is a nice man. I am sure that he will take steps whatever is necessary," Banerjee said.

Ambika Banerjee Thursday said he had shot off letters to the prime minister and the defence minister on disputed deals, and not to the army chief who is demanding a probe against a top lieutenant general on the basis of this missive.

"I did not give a letter to the army chief," Banerjee said after the army chief sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a May 2011 letter purportedly from Banerjee, complaining against Lt. Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag, who commands the Dimapur-based 3 Corps.

Gen. Singh, citing the letter from the MP, has asked CBI to probe the complaint against the lieutenant general alleging widespread procurement scams in the secretive Special Frontier Force - when Suhag was its inspector general.