Nyoma clash: CoI recommends disciplinary action against 168 Army personnel

New Delhi: An Army Court of Inquiry (CoI) has recommended disciplinary action against 168 personnel, including the then Commanding Officer (CO) of an artillery unit for their role in a clash between officers and jawans in May last year in Nyoma in Ladakh.

The Northern Army Commander has confirmed the recommendations by the CoI for disciplinary action against 168 personnel including three other officers, 17 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and 147 jawans, Army sources said here. Disciplinary action in connection with the incident on May 10, last year against the personnel may also lead to court martial, they said. The CoI was held under Brig Ajay Talwar and had completed its probe and submitted its report to the 14 Corps headquarters in Leh in first week of December last year. The personnel have been indicted by the CoI for various charges including arson and assault. Three officers, including the CO, and eight jawans of 226 Field Regiment were injured in the fracas at Mahe firing range near Nyoma. A day after the incident, the Army had ordered a CoI in which 215 witnesses including five officers, 21 JCOs and 189 jawans were examined. The officers and men had clashed during a firing practice session where women were also present without proper authorisation. In a similar officer-jawan face off in Samba in Jammu and Kashmir last year, the Army CoI had recommended action against 60 personnel. The indicted officers and jawans of the artillery 226 Field Regiment in the case have been attached to various units in and around Jammu area, the sources said. As per the Army Act, personnel recommended to face disciplinary action by a CoI have to go through the process of Summary of Evidence (SoE). If the SoE confirms the punishment recommended by the CoI, the personnel have to face the trial by a General Court Martial (GCM). After the Nyoma incident, a number of incidents of face offs between officer and jawans came to light including one at Gurdaspur involving the 45 Armoured Regiment. The officers and jawans of the regiment had clashed at a sports ground over some issue during the physical training session. Soon after taking over, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh had initiated several steps to address the issue and asked the officers to be cordial with their men. PTI