NASHIK, June 25: Top artillery officers of the Army are meeting in the School of Artillery, Deolali (Nashik), on June 26 and 27, to discuss regimental matters, including the job racket at the Artillery Centre, Nashik.

The `Colonel, Commandants and Major Generals, Artillery Conference' would be addressed by the senior Colonel Commandant of the Northern Army, Lieutenant General S Padmanabhan, who is also the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command.

The top Army officials who would attend the meeting include Lt Gen K S Sethi, Director General, Military Intelligence; Lt Gen S S Sethi, Director General, Artillery, Lt Gen K M Sethi and Adjutant General, Army Headquarters.

The top officials of artillery meet every two years for the `Artillery Conference'. The meeting in Nashik is being called before the next artillery conference to sort out issues related to regiments, like existing equipment, introduction of new arsenal and welfare of the gunners.

The recent job racket at the Artillery Centre, Nashik (responsible for recruiting soliders for the Artillery), where a court of inquiry had indicted senior Army officers and suggested a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, is likely to figure during the meeting.

The job racket came to light in January this year, when a civilian accused a junior commissioned officer of demanding Rs 20,000 for a job in the Artillery. Subsequently, a search of the accused's house led to the seizure of Rs. 1.40 lakh in cash. A court of inquiry was ordered which indicted several commissioned officers in the racket and sought a CBI probe.

Incidentally, the prime accused in the job racket, Subhash Khushwa (who had confessed to the court .

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.