Friday, June 3 2005 16:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan, who made the sensational allegation that an India Brigadier had sold India's 1965 war plan to his Country for Rs 20,000, has claimed that the official was then a director of military operations.

Khan, son of former Pakistan Commander-in-Chief and President Ayub Khan, said the plan, which was "sold" between 1951 and 1958 formed the basis of his country's military campaign in the 1965 war.

Khan in an interview on CNBC made it clear that he had been told about the plan by his father and the man who allegedly sold it was director of India's military operations between 1951 and 1958.

Asked by interviewer Karan Thapar whether he agreed that only a Brigadier in the Directorate of Military Operations (DGMO) would have access to the plan, he replied "correct."

To a question whether this person headed the DGMO at that time, he said "usually you do not post two Brigadiers in one organisation."

When Thapar asked whether he was pointing his finger at five Brigadiers who served as director between 1951-58, Khan said, "That would be correct."

However, he declined to divulge the name. Of the five Brigadiers who served as directors of military operations during the period, one went on to become Army chief, one Vice Chief, a third Army Commander and two Generals.

Khan also claimed that documents which had passed through then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's desk reached Ayub Khan in Pakistan.

"We got a lot of papers ... Documents did come to Pakistan," he said.

Asked whether these were military plans or other papers, he cryptically replied, "Information is like a jigsaw, sometimes you get a lot, sometimes you get a lead and build it up."

Khan claimed that his father had himself told him about the war plan, which had been "bought" when he served as his aide de camp during his tenure as Commander-in-chief.

"I served as ADC to (Khan) between 1956 to 1959. It (the plan) was a gossip in the Pakistan Army. We used to exercise a lot ... I asked him and he told me precisely.