Court martial of Indian Air Force officer for shooting down their own helicopter
Group Captain Saman Chaudhry allowed Mi-17 helicopter to fly without identification at a certain angle despite ban, accused was found guilty of 5 out of 9 charges, 4 soldiers were killed in firing at military center in Bathinda
A General Court Martial (GCM) in Indian capital, New Delhi, has ordered the dismissal of Indian Air Force Group Captain Saman Roy Chaudhary.
On the other hand, 4 soldiers were killed in the firing incident at the Bathinda military base in India. Indian authorities termed the incident as an internal matter while declaring terrorism as extraterritorial.
According to the Indian media report, on February 27, 2019, the Indian Air Force fired a missile at its own Mi-17 helicopter, which killed 6 Air Force officers and a civilian. It should be remembered that on the same day, the Pakistani Air Force shot down 2 Indian aircraft. Wing Commander Abhinand was arrested in the operation.
Group Captain Saman Roy Chaudhary was posted as the Chief Operations Officer at the Srinagar Air Force Station at the time. Air Force officials say the court-martial’s inquiry and order is yet to be confirmed by the Chief of Air Staff.
On 20 March 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the General Court Martial to issue an inquiry against Group Captain Saman Chaudhry but stayed its execution until the court case was over.
According to the Indian newspaper, the case is yet to be concluded in the High Court. Group Captain Saman Chaudhary has been found guilty of 5 out of 9 charges.
On 14 July 2017, the High Command issued an order that all aircraft flying at a certain angle ‘North of Latitude 3200 N’ would have to fly with their identification, Group Captain Saman Chaudhary defied this order.
He allowed the Mi-17 helicopter to take off from Srinagar without any identification on the helicopter.
Group Captain Saman Chaudhary gave permission for the Mi-17 helicopter to fly towards the missile unit at 10:10 am on 27 February 2019, 23 km from the Srinagar base.
This helicopter was shot down at 10:14 by a Spider missile included in the air defense system of the Indian Air Force. The loss of the helicopter is estimated at 133.31 crore rupees.
Wing Commander Shyam Nithani, then a senior air traffic control officer, has been acquitted of four charges and given a stern warning in one charge.
On the other hand, 4 soldiers were killed in the firing incident at the Bathinda military center in Indian Punjab. In a statement from the headquarters of the South Western Command of the Indian Army, it has been said that a joint investigation with the Punjab Police has been sealed to find out the facts of the case. has been started.
The statement added that “all aspects are being investigated, including the possible involvement of the INS rifle in the incident, which also includes the case of missing 28 bullets two days ago”.
SSP Bathinda Police told Indian Express that something has happened but the army is not giving details. He ruled out terrorism in the incident and said that the incident appears to be an internal matter of the military center.
