Capt Kohli’s family plans to move high court for probe

CHANDIGARH - Shocked at Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s assertion that decorated army officer Capt. Sumit Kohli committed suicide and no further inquiry is required in the case, the officer’s family is planning to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for an impartial probe.

Answering a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member’s query Nov 24, Antony said that Kohli had committed suicide and no further probe was required. This came as a blow for the late officer’s mother Veena Kohli, who was expecting a fair inquiry after the minister’s assurance to her in September.

“Antony had assured me of a re-investigation of the mysterious death of my son when I met him. I was totally shocked with his statement and I do not know whether a fresh probe was ever conducted into this incident or not,” she told reporters Friday.

“We want a thorough CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe into this incident. We are also planning to move the high court,” said Veena.

In September, Antony ordered a fresh inquiry into the circumstances of Kohli’s death. In a communication to Veena, Antony said that he has sought a fresh inquiry into the death of Captain Kohli.

The earlier probe by army authorities stated that Captain Kohli committed suicide with his AK-47 rifle.

“The defence minister had told lie on the floor of the Rajya Sabha. So far, we have not received any intimation about the fresh inquiry report. There were many loopholes in the first inquiry and even in the post-mortem report,” said Guneet Chaudhary, the family’s lawyer.

“We are going to file an application through RTI (Right to Information) seeking details of the fresh inquiry. If they again fail to furnish any detail through RTI, then we would move the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” he added.

Kohli’s mother 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.

Decorated with the Shaurya Chakra - the third highest peace-time gallantry medal - on Republic Day 2006, Kohli 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.

Kohli’s mother alleged the army had tarnished her son’s image by claiming he committed suicide. She alleged that Kohli had come to know about the staged gunfights of his senior officers in Jammu and Kashmir and this could have led to his death.

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