Army officer goes missing in Spain, declared absconder

New Delhi, Oct 18: A Special Forces officer, who was serving as an Aide de Camp (ADC) to the

Governor, has been declared an "absconder" by the Indian Army after he went missing while on a vacation in

in August.

Army sources said that Major Sharyf Bhonsle had gone to Spain allegedly without informing the authorities concerned about his it. He had taken leave in June and was supposed to report back on duty in August but he did not, they said. Initial inputs suggested that he was taking part in adventure games and had injured himself, but there was no information after that, the sources said.

The Indian Embassy is Madrid was also roped in but the officer could not be found, they said. The sources said his family as well as his unit did not have any information about him. Following this, an Army Court of Inquiry was set up at the Para Regimental Centre, Bangalore, which declared him an absconder, the sources said.

The case will now be handed over to the police in Arunachal, where he was posted, or in Pune, where he hailed from, the sources said. They said that the officer had not sought clearances from the Military Intelligence (MI) as is the rule for all serving officers to travel abroad.

The Army officer was on deputation with government of Arunachal for the last one year. He was from the same para unit of the Special Forces as was Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma during his tenure with army. The Special Force Units of the Army are mandated with special operating missions such as hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare and special reconnaissance.

PTI