Court of Inquiry ordered against Major Leetul Gogoi after Army chief promises strict action

The CoI proceedings against Major Gogoi were initiated shortly after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat assured an exemplary punishment if the former was found guilty.

SRINAGAR: A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered against Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi who has courted a fresh controversy after he was arrested from a hotel in Jammu and Kashmir with a woman. The CoI proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi were initiated shortly after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat assured an exemplary punishment if the former was found guilty. The two-member Court of Inquiry panel will probe the matter and recommend what action should be taken against Major Gogoi if he is found guilty of involvement in any unlawful activity.    

''A Court of Inquiry against Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi has been ordered. The future course of action will be recommended after completion of the probe, '' army officials were quoted as saying by PTI. 

General Rawat had said on Friday said that no officer at any rank in the force will be spared if they have done anything wrong. "If any officer of the Indian Army, at any rank, does anything wrong, appropriate action will be taken against them. If Major Gogoi has done something wrong, I assure you that strict action will be taken against them. And the action will be such that it will set an example for the future," he said.

Major Gogoi along with the woman was taken to a police station from where he was handed over to his unit.

Police said that at 11 am they got a call from Hotel Grand Mamta about an altercation at the hotel. "A police party was deputed to the hotel and it surfaced that a woman (name withheld) and a man identified as Sameer Ahmed of Budgam had come to see some person," a police statement said.

"But the hotel reception did not allow them to meet the person. Meanwhile, police reached the spot and got all the persons to the police station.

"Subsequently it was learnt that the woman had come to meet an Army officer. The identity and particulars of the Army officer have been collected by the police.

"The official was handed over to (his) unit after recording their statements. The statement of the woman is also being recorded," the police said.

Major Gogoi is the same officer who had stirred a row in 2017 after photos had gone viral in which a local was tied to the bonnet of his vehicle in Badgam district to avoid stone pelting incident.