Major Leetul Gogoi is punished, posted out of Kashmir

New Delhi: Maj. Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the “human shield” controversy in Kashmir in 2017, has been given a “severe reprimand” by the Army Headquarters and will lose his seniority for six months for pension purposes, for “fraternising” with a local woman in Kashmir last year.

Maj. Gogoi and his driver were detained by the J&K police after an altercation with the staff of a hotel as he was allegedly trying to enter it with an 18-year-old woman on May 23 last year. Maj. Gogoi was facing a court-martial on this issue.

Maj. Leetul Gogoi has also been shifted out of the Kashmir Valley. Army sources, however, denied that he had been shunted out of Kashmir as a punishment but said he was being posted out as per the normal process after completing his tenure. “The Army has lifted the discipline and vigilance (DV) ban imposed on Maj. Gogoi and (he) shall be posted out as normal posting. He is not being shunted out as some media is reporting,” said sources.

He was posted to a Rashtriya Rifles unit in March 2016 and was posted out in October 2018. From October 2018 he was posted to the V Force for an additional time “pending inquiry and action”. A source said: “The period of posting makes it clear he has done a normal tour of duty, that is between two to two and a half years,” a source added.

The court-martial had held Maj. Gogoi guilty on two counts — “fraternising” with a local woman in spite of instructions to the contrary, and “being away from the place of duty while in an operational area”.

Maj. Gogoi hit the headlines after he tied a local, Farooq Ahmed Dar, to a jeep purportedly as a shield against an unruly mob which was hurling stones during a byelection at Budgam, which forms part of the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, on April 9, 2017.

However, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat had then defended Maj. Gogoi’s action and conferred him with a commendation for his “sustained distinguished service” in the state in countering insurgency.

But after Maj. Gogoi was detained at a hotel by the J&K police when he was trying to enter it with an 18-year-old woman, Gen. Rawat had said that exemplary punishment would be given to Maj. Gogoi if he was 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 had said.