ARMY ORDERS INQUIRY AGAINST MAJOR GOGOI

STRICT ACTION

The Army on Friday ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) against Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi who was detained when he was allegedly trying to enter a hotel with an 18-year-old woman.

The Army has ordered a Court of Inquiry against Major Leetul Gogoi who was detained by police here on Wednesday after he had a scuffle with the staff of a Srinagar hotel on being refused to check in with a local teenage girl.

“If found guilty, appropriate action would be taken against him," defence ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said here on Friday. Major Gogoi had earlier in April 2016 stirred up a hornet’s nest by ordering his men to tie Farooq Ahmed Dar, a Kashmiri shawl-weaver from Chhil Brass village of central Budgam district, to the bonnet of an Army jeep during by-poll in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The J&K police had detained the Army officer briefly after the incident took place in Srinagar’s tourist frequented Dal Gate area on May 23.

He had booked a room in Hotel Grand Mamta in Dal Lake area online. A teenage girl from Chak-eKawoosa village of Budgam along with a local man Sameer Ahmed Malla, who later turned out to be soldier, also arrived at the hotel around same time. The staff at front desk grew suspicious when he was unable to provide his identity card nor information on the girl he wanted to check in with. An argument broke out which soon turned into a physical brawl. “We called the police which took the guest, the driver and the girl to police station,” the hotel owner said.