The Army, however, denied that the officers were alone to be blamed. (Source: PTI photo)
Written by
Sweta Dutta | Jaipur | Posted: October 10, 2014 9:06 pm | Updated: October 10, 2014 9:51 pm
A police complaint was lodged against four Army officers in the state capital on Thursday for allegedly beating up a jawan who refused to serve alcohol after the bar was closed. The incident took place late on October 5 evening during a social gathering at the 61 Cavalry unit.
According to the first information report filed by Lance Dafadar Vikram Singh’s wife, Nandu Kanwar, four Army officers –Major Danny Sweden, Major Arjun Patil, Major Deepankar Jain and Captain Apurva Gawade – beat up Singh when he refused to serve them more alcohol after the unit’s bar was closed. “It was late in the evening and the bar had closed. When my husband told the officers that he did not have any orders to reopen the bar, they hit him on the head with a pipe and kicked him so badly that his kidneys have been damaged,” Nandu Kanwar told the Indian Express.
“I received a phone call from my husband at 1.30 am on Sunday night asking me to come over to the army unit immediately. Leaving my young children alone at home, I walked 3 kms to reach the spot at that hour and found him in a pool of blood. When I insisted that he should be shifted to another hospital as the army hospital did not even have a medical assistant at that hour, the officers manhandled me,” Nandu added.
Singh was taken to the Marudhar Hospital that night and shifted to SMS Hospital later the next morning. “Going against medical advice, the Army officers forcibly shifted my husband back to the army hospital and have been threatened me with dire consequences if I reported the matter to the police or media,” Nandu alleged. “Such incidents are common in the mess where officers in an inebriated condition treat jawans poorly but no action is taken against them. In most cases, the incident is hushed up.”
Singh’s medical report at the Marudhar Hospital revealed ‘mild to moderate right perinephric hematoma.’ Hospital authorities said that the patient had arrived in a critical condition and the injury to his kidneys were serious.He is currently admitted to the intensive care unit of the army hospital and is in a serious condition.
The Army, however, denied that the officers were alone to be blamed and said that Singh was as much at fault and was himself in an inebriated condition. “The jawan was drunk while on duty and when the officers protested, he misbehaved with them. A scuffle broke out in which the jawan was injured. A court of inquiry has been ordered and action will be taken against whoever is found guilty,” said defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Manish Ojha.
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Jawan beaten by army officers, critical | The Indian Express