Army Headquarters has finally given Defence Intelligence Agency chief Lieutenant General K Davar a hint of its displeasure over his high profile since taking over the post.

The DIA was formed on the recommendation of the K Subrahmanyam Committee set up to ascertain the shortcomings that resulted in the Kargil conflict. But its chief does not have control over the transfers and postings of officers under him.

Last week, army HQ transferred the DIA's director (coordination) and director (foreign division) to other posts. The first officer coordinates the operations of the DIA, while the second liaises with defence attaches around the world.

Army HQ has refused to give any official reason for the transfers, but the officers have been told to move out immediately.

An army spokesman told rediff.com that the transfers were 'routine', but refused to explain why the officers had not been allowed to complete their mandated tenures in the posts.

The transfers were clubbed with that of an official of the Military Operations Branch, which is seen as a bid to camouflage the warning to the DIA chief.

According to a source in army HQ, Gen Davar had even called on Chief General Nirmal Chand Vij in an attempt to get the orders withdrawn.

Significantly, the orders came a few days after Subir Dutta was replaced by Ajay Prasad as the defence secretary.

A source told rediff.com that there is widespread dissatisfaction in army HQ with the DIA chief, whose conduct on several counts is being questioned by senior officers.

A source close to the Chiefs of Staff Committee, to which the DIA is answerable, said Gen Davar was passing on information gathered by his agency directly to the defence secretary.

Gen Davar is supposed to report to Chief of Integrated Staff Lieutenant General Pankaj Joshi, who in turn reports to the CoSC.

A senior army officer said it was through the former defence secretary that Gen Davar had managed to get government clearance for travelling to several foreign countries last year after taking over as DIA chief. "He is probably the most travelled senior military officer in the country today," the officer remarked.

Gen Davar's penchant for the media limelight has drawn widespread criticism even from other intelligence agencies. In fact, the Intelligence Bureau objected to his claim on the percentage of local militants in Jammu and Kashmir in one of his interviews to a TV channel.

There is also an intense standoff between the director general of military intelligence and the DIA for control of defence attaches and other sections of the army that have now been made answerable to the DIA. In fact, defence attaches still report to both the DIA and the DGMI.