Probe ordered against Major Gogoi after Army Chief warns of 'exemplary punishment'

Srinagar/New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) The Indian Army on Friday ordered a Court of Inquiry against Major Leetul Gogoi who was detained along with a Kashmiri woman from a Srinagar hotel this week.

"The Army has ordered a Court of Inquiry against Major Gogoi of 53 Rashtriya Rifles regarding an incident that occurred on May 23.

"If found guilty, appropriate action would be taken against him," Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia told IANS in Srinagar.

The probe was announced after Army chief General Bipin Rawat said Gogoi will be given "exemplary punishment" if he was found guilty of violating rules.

"If Major Gogoi has done anything wrong I assure you that he will be severely punished and I will give such punishment that it will become a precedent,'' General Rawat told the reporters in Pahalgham.

"If anyone in the Indian Army, at any rank, does any wrong and it comes to our notice, then strictest action will be taken. If Major Gogoi has done something wrong, then I can say that he will be given due punishment and the punishment will be such that it will set an example."

Sources also told IANS that Gogoi's commanding officer was being shifted out for alleged lack of command and control over his subordinates.

They also said Gogoi, who was in the middle of a row when he tied a civilian to the bonnet of his vehicle in Kashmir last year, had been taken off from field duties and attached to headquarters till the completion of the inquiry.

Gogoi was briefly detained by the police after he was involved in a row with the staff of a hotel, where he had booked a room in his name online.

The woman and another man came to the hotel and wanted to go to Gogoi's room and got into an altercation with the hotel staff when they were not allowed inside.

The officer was later handed over to his unit in Budgam. The woman has recorded her statement before a magistrate.

The police is already conducting an investigation into the incident.