Court Martial recommends death sentence to sepoy for killing senior

Srinagar Mar 2 (UNI) In a rare decision, the Summary Court Martial (SCM) has recommended death sentence to a solider who killed a senior army officer in the Kashmir valley in October last year.

A defence ministry spokesman said the SCM recommended S C Behera of 28 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) be sentenced to death for killing Lt Colonel Saket Saxena at Harwan on October 31.

He said the SCM recommendation is subject to approval from the higher authorities.

He said the recommendations will be forwarded to the Northern Command for further action and approval.

Lt Colonel Saket, son of media advisor to Jammu and Kashmir government (Home) Brigadier (Retd) Virender Saxena, was shot dead by the soldier in the camp at Harwan on the outskirts of the city.

This will be the first case in the recent past that SCM has recommended death sentence to a soldier for killing his senior.

About a dozen soldiers were killed in various incidents of fragging in the Kashmir valley during the past one year.

UNI