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Corps commander replaced
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 20. The Army commander of one of the country's three strike corps has been replaced. Although on the face of it, the replacement has nothing to do with the Bikaner fire, reliable sources suggested that the commander has been directed to proceed on leave for committing ``tactical errors'' during forward deployment of the 2 strike corps from its base at Ambala.
The corps commander, Kapil Vij, has been replaced by P.S. Thakur, Chief of Staff of the Shimla-based Army Training Command, after the former was found to have over-reached his brief during forward deployment of his strike corps.
This misdemeanor, understood to have been detected by American satellites, was brought to the notice of both Pakistan and India. Official sources here, however, discounted suggestions that the commander of the Ambala-based strike corps had summarily fallen out of favour with the top Army brass.
While not denying that he had been relieved of his charge, they maintained that he had completed his normal tenure of a command. As is the custom, Lt. Gen. Thakur is being attached to the strike corps prior to taking over the command, they suggested. ``The normal command tenure of Gen. Vij is over,'' they re-emphasised.
Analysts said it was highly unusual to replace the head of a strike corps while the Army was deployed in forward locations and was primed for an across-the-border thrust.
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