At centre of Pak boat controversy sacked
Contradicting govt version, DIG BK Loshali had claimed that he had passed an order to blow up the vessel
NEW DELHI: A military court has dismissed a Dig-ranked Coast Guard officer from service, ten months after he stirred up a controversy by contradicting the government’s official line on the sinking of a Pakistani boat off the coast of Gujarat.
The government had asserted that the boat had blown itself up 200 nautical miles off Porbandar after a tense 16-hour chase on the night of December 31, 2014, but barely two months, later DIG BK Loshali claimed that he had passed an order to blow up the vessel.
A senior officer told HT that a five-member Coast Guard court dismissed Loshali from service on Saturday, two and half months after it had assembled. Loshali has the option of seeking a judicial review to challenge the verdict.
A Pakistani fishing boat, which was allegedly carrying explosives, was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard off the coast of Gujarat on the eve of the new year. The vessel exploded and caught fire, sinking with all four occupants.
Following the incident,
defence minister Manohar Parrikar had said “circumstantial evidence” indicated that the Pakistani boat had suspected terror links, dismissing claims that occupants of the boat were smugglers. He added that they were in touch with Pakistani maritime officials, “army and international contacts”.
Loshali had contradicted Parrikar’s statement two months later when he told an audience of Coast Guard and Larsen & Toubro officials on February 15 that he had ordered to blow off the boat, causing a major embarrassment for the government as well as the Coast Guard.
“On the night of December 31, I was there at Gandhinagar, and I said at night, blow the boat off. We don’t want to serve them biryani,” Loshali had said.
Following this, the government had removed Loshali from the position of Chief of Staff, North West and attached him to the force’s Gandhinagar-based regional headquarters.