3 Navy officers face court martial for INS Betwa warship accident

New Delhi: Three senior Navy officers are facing a General Court Martial for their alleged negligence which led to the tipping over of frontline warship INS Betwa in 2016.

"Three officers of the Indian Navy including a Captain (equivalent to an Army Colonel) are facing a General Court Martial at a naval base in Mumbai for the accident in which a warship worth over Rs 2,000 crore fell aside during refit in the naval dockyard," senior naval sources told ANI here.

The court-martial started last week and proceedings are being presided over by a Commodore-rank officer of the Navy, they said.

INS Betwa, a guided-missile frigate, tipped over and crashed to its side while undocking in Mumbai on Monday, in what the Navy described as an "unprecedented and sad" incident.

Two sailors died while 14 others were rescued with minor injuries.

The 3,850-ton ship was lying on its side at the naval dockyard. It was docked for underwater repairs during the incident.

The INS Betwa is currently undergoing sailing.

The government had asked the Navy to fix the accountability for the accident in which a warship crashed inside the berth.

Before the INS Betwa, navy submarine INS Sindhurakshak had sunk after a major explosion in Mumbai in which more than 15 sailors had lost their lives along with the vessel.