NEW DELHI:
The officer held responsible for the accidental shooting down of a military helicopter at the height of India-Pakistan tension in February will be charged by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder along with three others, according to reports.
The IAF is yet to officially acknowledge reasons for the Mi-17 helicopter’s crash on February 27, the day Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets attempted to cross the Line of Control (LoC). But reports suggest that it was shot down in a friendly fire by IAF’s own air defence missile. The Court of Inquiry into the incident killing all six onboard is yet to be completed.
The IAF maintains that the investigation was still going on but multiple reports indicate that there was a lapse in following the Standard Operating Procedures. A report said that the officer commanding the Srinagar air base, where the crash took place, has been removed.
The officer who was presiding over operations will face charges of culpable homicide, a criminal offence, according to another report. The incident had occurred in Jammu and Kashmir in the melee when IAF jets had engaged intruding PAF fighters over the LoC a day after air strike on terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Balakot.
