Jodhpur: A senior Army officer today (May 29, 2004) conceded in his deposition before a military court here that fake evidence of encounters were indeed created on the Line of Control in Siachen Glacier region last year to secure gallantry awards.

Conceding that the claims of encounter along the LoC made by Maj Surinder Singh were fabricated, the then Commanding Officer of a Gorkha battalion posted in Siachen, Col K D Singh, said the evidence provided with the claim was later found to be fake.

Showing the video clips purportedly showing the encounter-damaged enemy bunker and slain Pakistani troops, Col Singh told the court that later inquiries revealed that the encounter in August last year was stage-managed.

"At the first instance, I found nothing wrong in the two video cassettes sent by Maj Surinder Singh, the Company Commander, along with his situation reports. However, after closely observing the video clips, I doubted their authenticity and sought clarification from the officer concerned on phone," he said. Not only Major Singh insisted that the said encounters were real but his claim was supported by others too initially.