Claim: Indian Army’s Vice Chief of Staff was removed from his post and arrested after saying that the Pahalgam attack was orchestrated by India.
Fact: General Kumar retired as Head of Indian Army’s Northern Command after reaching the age of superannuation on 30 April 2025. He previously served as the 45th Vice Chief of the Army Staff. The Government of India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) as well as official Indian Army accounts on X have confirmed his retirement and that it was scheduled before the Pahalgam incident. More so, there is no evidence to suggest he blamed India for orchestrating the attacks.
Editors note: This article is not investigating the Pahalgam attack or if/whether it was orchestrated.
Fact or Fiction?
To see if this claim was true, we conducted a Google search for “MVS Kumar arrested”. This led to a number of results of Pakistani news outlets claiming that the General had been arrested after he refused to initiate retaliatory operations against Pakistan, following the Pahalgam attack. This claim was circulated by Business Recorder, Dunya News, Times of Karachi, Gourmet News Network (GNN), GTV, 24 News, and Minute Mirror.
Since these sources claimed that General Kumar had given a statement about refusing to initiate operations against Pakistan, we searched for video evidence of it on YouTube. However, we only came across Pakistani news outlets claiming General Kumar had been arrested after the Pahalgam attack or that he had spoken of the attack as being orchestrated by the Indian government. There were no recorded video instances of General Kumar making the statement himself.
As part of our search results for “MVS Kumar arrested”, we also came across a fact-check by Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (D-FRAC), an International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) signatory, on this matter. D-FRAC corroborated PIB’s fact-check and reiterated that General Kumar was “retiring on April 30, 2025, as scheduled, due to superannuation”. The fact-check concluded that the claim was misleading and that it “appears to be a case of deliberate misinformation…without credible evidence”.
A fact-check by Factly, another IFCN signatory, also stated that these posts lacked credible evidence and that General Kumar “retired from service on 30 April 2025, as scheduled”. Factly cited a press release dated 1 May 2025 by India’s Ministry of Defense that stated General Kumar had “relinquished the Command of Indian Army’s Northern Command on 30th April 2025” and that there was a “solemn ceremony on his departure”. Moreover, Factly cited a post on X by the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) on 30 April 2025 that shared photos of the General’s farewell on his superannuation. Hence, Soch Fact Check rates this claim as false.
We also came across a post on X by the Government of India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) that stated this claim was false. The PIB stated that “Lt Gen Kumar is set to retire on April 30 upon reaching the age of superannuation”. A screenshot of their post is shown below:
India attacks sites in Pakistan
Indian airstrikes in Pakistan
In the early hours of 7 May, the Indian military launched Operation Sindoor and targeted various locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 31 people and wounding 57 others, according to Pakistani authorities. At least three children were killed by the strikes.
The attacks marked the most expansive military action between the two nations since 1971.
Pakistan military’s media-wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said civilian areas in at least six locations—including Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh, Kotli, and Muzaffarabad—were targeted.
India, however, alleged it targeted nine “terrorist camps”, a claim which has not yet been independently verified. Pakistan, on the other hand, has asserted that these sites are densely populated civilian areas. Emerging footage and on-ground reporting shows that civilians, including women and children, were injured in the attack, which lends credibility to Pakistan’s assertions that civilian areas were harmed, contrary to claims made by Indian officials. Soch Fact Check also independently confirmed deaths of several civilians in Bahawalpur, including two children.
Notably, military strikes in Pakistani Punjab are across a recognised international border and constitute a major escalation relative to the surgical strikes carried out along the Line of Control (LoC), the ceasefire line that divides Pakistan-administered Kashmir from Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the airstrikes, saying his country “has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India”.
The Pahalgam Attack
India claims its strikes were a response to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on 22 April, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
Indian officials linked the attack to Pakistan, but Islamabad has denied the claim. The Resistance Front – a group that Indian officials maintain is a proxy front for the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – initially claimed responsibility for that attack but later retracted its statement.
Pakistan demanded a neutral investigation, asserting that India has not provided any evidence to support its allegations of Pakistan’s involvement in the attack.
The Indus Waters Treaty
Soon after the attack on tourists in Pahalgam, New Delhi announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which has been in place since 1960 and has survived two wars between the neighbouring nuclear countries. Pakistan stated that attempts to stop or divert Pakistan’s water would be considered an “act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power”.
On Tuesday, after a UNSC meeting to discuss the matter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Now, India’s water will flow for India’s benefit, it will be conserved for India’s benefit, and it will be used for India’s progress”.
Pakistan and International response to Indian attack
Hours after Indian strikes hit multiple Pakistani locations, the Pakistani military announced that they had brought down five Indian jets. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif informed Bloomberg TV that the country shot down five Indian jets and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, along with destroying checkposts at the Line of Control (LoC).
According to a press release issued by the Press Information Department (PID), after Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) convened on the morning of 7 May, India also targeted the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project.
“The international media personnel had already visited these ‘imaginary terrorist camps’ on 6 May 2025 and more visits were planned for 7 May 2025,” the press release said.
After the Pahalgam incident, “Pakistan made a sincere offer for a credible, transparent and neutral investigation, which unfortunately was not accepted” by India, it added.
The NSC also authorised the armed forces “to undertake corresponding actions” following the 7 May strikes by India.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres urged both India and Pakistan to exercise military restraint, adding that “the world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
The same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with senior federal ministers but has so far not made any public comments since the airstrikes, according to CNN.
Following India’s attack on Pakistan, multiple countries issued statements, with Russia saying it was “deeply concerned” about the escalation, China noting that it “regrets” New Delhi’s military action and urging “restraint”, the US stating that it hoped the conflict “ends very quickly”, and the UK promising that it will “stand ready” to assist in deescalating tensions between the two countries.
A surge of unverified claims and disinformation has circulated on social media since the Pahalgam terror attack, and it has spiked sharply after India launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory early Wednesday morning.
On 30 April 2025, a week before India’s airstrikes in Pakistan, a post on Facebook claimed that the Indian Army’s Vice Chief of Staff Lieutenant General M.V. Suchindra Kumar made a statement that the Pahalgam attack was orchestrated by the Indian government. According to the post, Kumar was subsequently removed from his position and arrested.
Virality
On Facebook, the claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, the claim was shared here, here, here, here, and here.
On Instagram, the claim was shared here, here, and here.
On Threads, the claim was shared here.
Conclusion: Lieutenant General M.V. Suchindra Kumar reached the age of superannuation and retired from his post of General Officer Commanding-in Chief of the Northern Command on 30 April 2025. He was not arrested or unceremoniously deposed after the Pahalgam attack. Neither is there any substantial evidence to support that he blamed the Indian government for orchestrating the Pahalgam attack
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Background image in cover photo: mint