SRINAGAR, 23 MAY: The Army has initiated action against one of its officers found guilty of handing over grenades to his subordinate arrested at Srinagar’s Sheikh-ul-Alam International airport before he could board Delhi bound flight to deliver the ammo last year.
The disciplinary action was taken against the accused officer after a Court of Inquiry found him guilty of giving two live grenades to the soldier to carry them to New Delhi.
“We have taken disciplinary action in the case against the officer who had given the solider the grenades to carry. The officer was attached immediately,” the report quoted a senior defence officer as having said.
“A 17 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles soldier, Bhupal Mukhia, who was posted at the Line of Control in the Uri sector of Baramulla district in north Kashmir, was to board a New Delhi-bound flight on April 3, 2017, when two live grenades were recovered from his luggage during the screening at the main gate of the Srinagar International Airport, while the grenades were concealed in multiple covers,” the report said.
The soldier was immediately detained by the anti-hijacking squad and a formal FIR was registered into the incident by the J&K Police, stated the report.
After the recovery of the grenades, mentioned the report, Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia had clarified that it was a case of carriage of grenades and there was no hijacking angle to the incident.
“The soldier had told the police that he was handed over the grenades by ‘Major sahib’ with the instruction to hand it over to someone in New Delhi. The soldier had said he did not know what was concealed in the packet,” the report said.
Mukhia was handed over to the Army authorities on April 14 after the Commanding Officer of the soldier told the civil court that Mukhia would be dealt with under the Army Act, said the report.
A court of inquiry initiated by the Army found that the soldier had been given the hand grenades by a Major to carry it to New Delhi, the report added.
