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IAF doesn’t count number of dead, govt will give casualty figures for Pak terror camp attack: Air Force Chief Dhanoa

Amid ongoing speculation over the number of terrorists killed in the Balakot air strikes by the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa on Monday said the IAF does not count human casualties and said that statement (on casualties at Balakot) will be made by the government.

“(The) Air Force is not in a position to clarify how many people were inside We don’t count human casualties, we count what targets have we hit or not hit,” Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa told reporters. He said the IAF cannot count how many people were killed in the operation. “That depends on how many people were there (at the facility), he said

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said the bomb damage assessment post the mission calculates the number of targets their fighter pilots were able to hit or not.

Rejecting doubts that the IAF had not hit its targets at Balakot, the Air Force Chief said “the target has been clearly amplified by the Foreign Secretary in his statement. If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target. Otherwise, why would he have responded? If we had dropped bombs in the jungle, there is no need for him to respond,” he said.

Ongoing operations

Curiously, Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said he was not in a position to update on the situation at the border since there were “ongoing operations”. Responding to an earlier query on how the Mig-21 Bison had shot down an PAF F-16 too, he said there were ongoing operations.

He further said the Mig-21 Bison was in the inventory of the IAF. “So why not use it? It is capable, has been upgraded. It is not the old Mig-21. It has got a better weapon systems, better radars, better air to air missile, radar warning receiver, whatever it takes to make it a third generation to 3.5 generation aircraft. We fight with whatever aircraft we have in our inventory,” he said.

Asked whether Wing Commander Abhinandan would fly a fighter jet again, he said that would depend on his medical fitness. “That’s why post ejection he has undergone a medical check. Thereafter if required, whatever treatment is required will be given. Then only will he get into a fighter cockpit.”

The Rafale jet should come into India’s inventory by September, the Air Force Chief said in his first comments since the attack on the terror camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The Air Force, he said, had to get its act together and find out what caused the mid-air clash of two planes ahead of the opening of the Bengaluru air show on February 19 and a helicopter crash in Kashmir last week.

ED to review loans sanctioned during Chanda Kochhar’s tenure

In light of similarities observed in suspect credit transactions into the account of Nupower Renewables Private Limited, owned by Deepak Kochhar, the Enforcement Directorate has decided to expand the scope of its investigation and examine other large loans sanctioned by the ICICI bank during the time that Mr. Kochhar’s wife, Chanda, was at the lender’s helm.

In January, the CBI had registered an offence against the Kochhars as well as Videocon Group Managing Director Venugopal Dhoot in connection with alleged irregularities over loans sanctioned by ICICI bank to the Videocon Group. Based on the CBI’s FIR, the ED, too, initiated its own investigations into the financial aspects of the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In an exhaustive search last week, the ED seized a large number of documents pertaining to the financial transactions of the bank during Ms. Kochhar’s tenure, sources said.

“We have noticed certain similarities in the timeline pertaining to the transactions between the Videocon Group, Nupower Renewables Pvt. Ltd. and Firstland Holdings Pvt. Ltd., owned by Nishant Kanodia, whose father-in-law Ravi Ruia also availed a loan from the ICICI Bank for one of the companies under his Essar Group,” said an ED official familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Ms. Kochhar was questioned by the ED for the fourth straight day on Monday, while Mr. Kanodia was quizzed for the second consecutive day. Both were grilled separately at the ED office in Ballard Estate.

(Source – The Hindu)

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