PTI
 
Chandigarh, Nov 15: A Colonel of the Gorkha battalion was sentenced to loss of two years of service for pensionary benefits in a case pertaining to fake killings in Siachen Glacier about three years ago.

Commanding Officer (CO) of Gorkha battalion Col K D Singh, facing trial relating to the fake killings, was held guilty by a General Court Martial (GCM) on Tuesday, officials said on Wednesday.

Col Singh was found guilty by the GCM of not informing his immediate superior with regard to the fake killings, the officials said.

Besides, the officer was also found guilty of instituting a glacier fund within his battalion against the norms of Army.

The GCM comprising a Brigadier and six other officers however, exonerated the colonel of the charge that he forced two riflemen of his battalion to seek premature discharge from service so as to destroy evidence regarding the fake killings.

A section of media uncovered the scandal in 2004 about how troops of fifth battalion of Gorkha Rifles had stage-managed killings of Pakistani troops in 2003 by posing as dead enemy soldiers and video-graphing the exercise.

Another officer of the battalion Major Surinder Singh who staged the fake killings, had already been cashiered from service and sentenced to three years of imprisonment following a court martial.