VK Singh doubts Grewal’s ‘mental state’, sparks row

Kicking off another row through his controversial statement, Union minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh on Wednesday called for a probe to assess the “mental state” of the ex-serviceman who allegedly committed suicide in protest against the anomalies in the Centre’s One Rank One Pension scheme.

“He (Ram Kishen Grewal) has committed suicide. No one knows the reason behind it. OROP is being shown as the reason. What his mental state was, we do not know. Let it be probed first. OROP should be kept above politics,” Mr Singh told reporters, reacting to the alleged suicide by the 70-year-old Army veteran.

The minister added that the Centre had accepted the long-pending demands of the agitating veterans and there was no need to get into “what one is saying for chaar paisa”.

Grewal, who served for about 30 years in the Army and DSC, reportedly swallowed salphas tablets on Wednesday near Janpath in the national capital.