Brigadier (retired) Surinder Singh, who was dismissed from service after the Kargil war, on Tuesday wrote to President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking an independent probe into the Kargil episode alleging that the terms and references of the committee formulated for the purpose were only to 'bail out' senior officials.

An independent probe by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court assisted by a retired senior army officer should be ordered into the Kargil episode, Brig Singh wrote in his  letter to Kalam, Singh and Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and others.

"One is left with strong apprehension that the terms of reference of the (K Subrahmanyam) committee were formulated with the purpose and design by the then government. It was to avoid scrutiny and accountability of its (government) role and responsibility and also to bail out the then senior commander like army chief and others," he said in his letter.

Releasing the copies of the letter to the media here, Brig Singh accompanied by Major Manish Bhatnagar, also dismissed from service, told reporters: "Kargil crisis was due to political failure to comprehend the consequences of the nuclear test in Pokhran and its implications on Kashmir."

Criticising the Kargil Review Committee, headed by K Subrahmanyam, he alleged it 'supressed' facts on first intrusion by enemy.

He claimed the then army chief General V P Malik and the then Director General Military Operations and present army chief N C Vij were briefed by him at the appropriate time. Malik was not available for comments.

Singh alleged the National Democratic Alliance government was keen to take political mileage of the Kargil war. "They (NDA government) portrayed our mens' death for gaining sympathy keeping an eye on elections."

Major Bhatnagar, who was on his third tenure in Siachen during the Kargil war, said, "They (top army brass and political leadership) wanted to shift people (armymen) from where they were reporting intrusion."

Singh, who on Monday claimed that point 5353 was still under the occupation of Pakistan, said, "I came out with this revelation not due to change of government at the Centre. It is a matter of national security issue."