Army orders court of inquiry into Major Gogoi's conduct

A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been reportedly ordered against Major Leetul Gogoi who has courted a fresh controversy after he was held from a hotel in Jammu and Kashmir with a woman. The major had booked a room for himself in the hotel where a woman was scheduled to come and meet him.

Army Chief Bipin Rawat had earlier in the day said exemplary punishment would be given to Major Leetul Gogoi if he was found guilty of "any offence".

"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, I can say that he will be given due punishment and the punishment will be such that it will set an example," said the Army chief two days after a controversy involving Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi cropped up.

Major Leetul Gogoi, who made headlines last year for using a Kashmiri man as a human shield to save his team from stone pelters, was reportedly detained by the police along with a local woman from a hotel in Srinagar.

The Army officer, the woman and another person were detained by the police and later released after questioning.

Reports suggest the major was detained following an altercation at the reception of the hotel. The woman along with a person named Sameer Ahmed had reportedly come to visit the major at the hotel.

The owner denied entry to them, after which an altercation ensued. Some initial reports claimed that the woman was a minor, but later it became clear that she was 19-years-old.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir S P Pani, has ordered a probe to be conducted by Superintendent of Police, North Zone, into the incident, reported news agency PTI quoting the spokesperson.

Major Gogoi, of the Rashtriya Rifles 53rd battalion, made headlines in April 2017 when he tied one Farooq Ahmed Dar to the front of his jeep in Budgam. Major Gogoi had later defended his action by saying that it saved lives.

At the time, the Army had defended Major Gogoi's action, claiming that he had done this act in "good faith" to save lives of many soldiers and polling staff from violent crowds of stone-pelters in Utligam village of Beerwah.

The officer was then awarded the Chief of Army Staff's Commendation (COAS) card for "sustained efforts in CI (counterinsurgency) operations".