Court of Inquiry for Major Gogoi over minor girl affair in J-K
SRI NAGAR: The Army on Friday ordered a Court of Inquiry against Major Gogoi, who was briefly detained by the police with a local girl after trying to get a room at a hotel in Srinagar on Wednesday.
The development came shortly after Army chief General Bipin Rawat warned that the officer would face exemplary punishment if found guilty of misconduct.
“If Major Gogoi has done anything wrong, I assure you that he will be awarded punishment at the earliest. I will give him such a punishment, which will set an example,” Gen Rawat told reporters during a visit to the Army Goodwill School in Pahalgam, south Kashmir, on Friday.
The army chief arrived in the region on Thursday on a two-day visit to review the security situation.
Major Gogoi on Wednesday tried to check in to a hotel where he had booked a room for two persons for a night. He had booked the room online in the name of a businessman.
On noticing that he was accompanied by a local girl, the hotel staff denied him accommodation, and this led to the Major having an altercation with the staff and locals.
The staff informed the police, who arrived and detained the Major, the girl, and another army man — Sameer Mala, who drove Gogoi and the girl to the hotel.
Major Gogoi was briefly detained at the police station and released after questioning, along with the girl and Mala. The police have not registered an FIR, but a Superintendent-level police officer is investigating the case.
Police sources said Major Gogoi committed a major breach of the Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) by leaving the army camp without informing his superior.
“Being an army officer, why did he book a room in the name of a businessman,” they asked.
The girl belongs to a poor family from Budgam district. Her family of six has been living in a tent-like shed since their house got washed away in the 2014 floods.
The girl’s mother alleged that Major Gogoi and another army man (Sameer Mala) visited her house twice at night since March this year.
“We could not tell anybody because we were very scared.” The woman added that her daughter is a minor.
“She was born in 2001. And she is innocent.”