Army orders court of inquiry into Major Gogoi hotel row

Srinagar: The Army has ordered a court of inquiry against Major Leetul Gogoi, who was detained by the police here on Wednesday after he had a scuffle with the staff of a Srinagar hotel on being refused to check in with a local teenage girl.

“The Army has ordered a court of inquiry against Major Gogoi of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles regarding an incident that occurred on May 23. If found guilty, appropriate action would be taken against him,” defence ministry spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said here on Friday.

Earlier during the day, the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had assured that exemplary punishment will be awarded to Maj. Gogoi “if found guilty of any offence”.

“If any officer of the Indian Army is found guilty of any offence, we will take strictest possible action,” Gen. Rawat, who is in the Valley to review the security situation ahead of the annual Amarnath yatra, told reporters at Pahalgam.

“If Major Gogoi has done something wrong, I assure you that he will be awarded punishment at the earliest and the punishment will be such that it will set an example,” he added.

The J&K police is investigating the incident separately. It had detained the Army officer briefly after the incident took place in Srinagar’s tourist frequented Dal Gate area on the morning of May 23.

Major Gogoi had earlier in April 2016 stirred up a hornet’s nest by ordering his men to tie Farooq Ahmed Dar, a Kashmiri shawl-weaver, to the bonnet of an Army jeep during bypoll in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. He is a resident of Assam and was returning to his unity in Beerwa area in Kashmir’s central district of Budgam after spending vacations at home.

Sources said that in the backdrop of May 23 incident and impending inquiry into his conduct, Major Gogoi was taken off from field duties and attached to the headquarters. He may be shifted out for alleged lack of command and control over his subordinates.

He had booked a room in Hotel Grand Mamta in Dal Lake area online. A teenage girl from Chak-e-Kawoosa village of Budgam, along with a local man Sameer Ahmed Malla, who later turned out to be soldier also arrived at the hotel around same time.