Dead captain’s mother seeks fresh probe, meets Antony

NEW DELHI - The mother of a decorated army captain Saturday demanded an independent probe into his 2006 death in Jammu and Kashmir, saying she has “no faith in an army inquiry” which had held he committed suicide due to personal reasons.

Veena Kohli, mother of Shaurya Chakra winner Captain Sumit Kohli, Saturday met Defence Minister A.K. Antony here and sought justice in the case.

“He was a brilliant son. He was brave. He was not a coward. I don’t believe he would have committed suicide. He was definitely not the one (to end his life),” Veena Kohil told reporters after meeting Antony.

Veena Kohli said she believes her son was “murdered” at an army residential complex in Jammu and Kashmir’s Lolab Valley, near the Line of Control (LoC) where the captain was posted in 2006.

Captain Kohli was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra - the third highest peace time gallantry medal - on Republic Day 2006. He was found dead with a bullet wound April 30 the same year. He was serving with the 18 Rashtriya Rifles in the militancy-infested Lolab valley.

The mother alleged the army had tarnished the image of her son by claiming he committed suicide.

“I want the honour of my son to be restored. I want an independent inquiry. I have no faith in an army inquiry,” she said.

She said she met Antony for about 20 minutes and the minister “assured us of an independent probe”.

The mother had filed a Right to Information application but was denied a reply because the RTI act doesn’t apply in Jammu and Kashmir. She later moved the Delhi High Court that instructed the army to fetch the post-mortem report and related documents of her son.

“The autopsy raised my suspicion. There are two medical reports contradicting each other. One says the wound was on the left side and other says it was on the right side of the chin. There has been no forensic examination,” she said.

The inquiry report, she said, lacks even the basic details of circumstantial evidence.

The Kohli family suffered another tragedy a day after Sumit’s death when his shocked father suffered a stroke and died after the captain’s cremation.