ARMY PROBES SERVING COLONEL CAUGHT WITH JUNIOR’S WIFE

NEW DELHI: A serving colonel has landed in trouble for having an affair with a subordinate’s wife, sources said on Wednesday.

The army has ordered a probe against the colonel after the military police caught him with the lieutenant colonel’s wife at the latter’s home in Punjab’s Bathinda district. Both officers are from the Corps of Engineers.

The sources said the military police conducted a raid at the lieutenant colonel’s house at 3am on October 26 at his behest, indicating that he had an inkling about what was going on.

“Stealing the affection of a brother officer’s wife” is considered a grave crime under the Army Act and an officer guilty of it could be sent to prison for five years. The colonel is the additional chief engineer, Bathinda zone. The lieutenant colonel was away to Chandigarh for a golf tournament when the raid was conducted. HT has learnt that the colonel and the lieutenant colonel’s wife were later taken to a military hospital in Bathinda for a check-up. The colonel has been attached to another office for the duration of the inquiry.

The army is concerned about the spurt in extra-marital affairs within its ranks and is taking a serious view of those found guilty of such offences. “The army takes a strict view of such matters and the conduct of officers has to be above board,” an officer said.

The incident comes weeks after a lieutenant colonel was dismissed from service for having an affair with a colleague’s daughter. The officer’s services were terminated on account of his “inappropriate conduct.”