NEW DELHI: Coast Guard DIG B K Loshali, who was caught on camera saying that he had ordered the blowing up of the Pakistani boat, on Thursday apologised for his ‘utterances’.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar held a meeting with top Coast Guard official in his office in south block on Thursday evening. Parrikar has also summoned the Commanding Officer of Coast guard ship Rajratan, which followed the Pakistan terror boat off the coast at Porbander, as he wants to clear the air.
Meanwhile a Board of Inquiry has been ordered to look into the matter. All officers and sailors present at the Surat function would be questioned to know what exactly DIG Loshani said there.
Replying to the show cause notice issued to him on Wednesday for his controversial remark, Loshali wrote to Defence Minister seeking forgiveness for his action. But, sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have indicated that the DIG would face serious disciplinary action for his remark.
Loshali, a navigation and direction officer, has a troubled past. Though surprisingly, Loshali was going to Command ICGS Sankalp at Coast Guard region (West) in Mumbai in April. Coast Guard Headquarters had cleared his name for Commanding the advanced offshore patrol vehicle, Sankalp, despite the officer’s poor track record.
According to sources in the Indian Coast Guard, Loshali was previously pulled up for consuming too much alcohol. He was also removed from the Operational Command of a ship in 2008.
Later in 2010, he was given Command of the Kochi base, but a year later he was removed from the Command as he was put under low medical category due to heavy drinking and also due to his lifestyle. He was grounded from any Command postings.
Interestingly, during his early tenure as Kochi Commander, Loshali was given commendation from the then Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma for strengthening coordination between the Navy and the Coast Guard off Kerala and putting in place various standard operating procedures (SOP).
Subsequently, Loshali was posted to Chennai, where he was made project officer in 2011. And after serving Chennai for almost three years, he was moved to Gandhinagar, where he was appointed the Chief of Staff of the Command.
“He was the topper of his batch and was a very bright officer. However, because of his alcoholic nature, Loshali faced troubles in his career. By giving him a chance to Command ICGS Sanklap, the Coast Guard Headquarters wanted to give him another chance,” said one of his colleagues.
On Wednesday, the DIG had first contradicted the MoD claims over the Pakistan boat issue at an event.