Mrs Aroona Sharma was feeling hysterical. Yesterday evening, five men in civilian clothes had come and taken her 75-year-old husband, Wing Commander (Retd) CK Sharma, with them. Five men from Haryana Police.

“They will kill him! You know what the police is like,” a panic-stricken Mrs Sharma rambled, trying to locate her husband’s phone.

On March 10, Wing Commander (retd) CK Sharma was arrested by Haryana Police, at around 5pm, on charges of financial fraud. His family claims that the police didn’t explain the charges and entered their home under false pretenses.

“A tall man holding a bouquet of flowers was the first to ring the bell,” said Mrs Sharma. “He asked me if my husband was home. My husband felt it was fishy and said we didn’t want any flowers.”

The first man and four more just pushed their way into the veteran’s house. Mrs. Sharma dialed 100, but the response she got panicked her further. “First I could not get through,” she said. “Then when I finally did and told the operator about the situation, the only reply I got was, ‘ Sorry, we can’t help you’.”

This response was particularly alarming for the family, because apart from being a war veteran, Sharma is also the treasurer of the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) and a prominent face in the One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) movement. Sharma and two other OROP protestors, Major General Satbir Singh and Captain VK Gandhi, were accused of financial fraud by Lt. General Kadyan, the former chairman of IESM. Kadyan accused the three of withdrawing Rs 7 lack from the IESM fund for personal use. Singh is the chairman, Gandhi is the secretary and Sharma is the treasurer of IESM.

The accusations don’t sound credible to the vice chairman of IESM, Major General (retd.) Renjen. According to Renjen, the story of the arrest starts with the removal of Kadyan as the chairman of IESM. “He was involved in various anti-IESM activities, like meeting politicians alone without taking a delegation along,” said Renjen of Kadyan. “He was removed as the chairman following proper procedure. Since his removal, he has been trying to file false charges against our members.”

This is not the first time Kadyan has targeted his colleagues. In the past, his charges were rejected twice by the police and the lower court. Yet this time, when Kadyan went to a higher court, an arrest order was issued, without any inquiry.

Renjen described the charges against Sharma and the other two leaders as “baseless”. He said Rs 7 lakh had been withdrawn, but to organize rallies. “Whatever was spent was spent and the balance, I think around Rs. 4 lakh, was deposited back,” said Renjen, adding that IESM has an annual audit by an independent auditor done every year.

Although the lower court in Gurgaon rejected an anticipatory bail application, Chandigarh High Court has given anticipatory bail to the three veterans. However, this doesn’t help Sharma since he is already in custody. At the time of filing this story, Sharma’s family was in Gurgaon court, waiting for the bail order from High Court which they would use to argue for his bail in the lower court.

Speaking over the phone, Mrs. Sharma said, “He was a class 1 gazetted officer and they kept him locked in a civil cell. That’s illegal. This man has fought two wars for India. Every time he was in the air, he risked his life for this country and this is how he is treated?”