Armymen beat up Colonel?s son
Officers in the brigade said the two paratroopers had only 'threatened' the boy and not beaten him up, reports Rahul Singh.
Two young army officers from the elite Parachute Regiment have landed in trouble after they allegedly beat up a merchant navy sailor, who happens to be the son of an Armoured Corps Colonel, in Agra last week.
The army, which places high premium on discipline, has instituted a court of inquiry into the incident after the boy’s family lodged a protest with Brigadier NS Ghai, commander, 50 (Independent) Para Brigade.
The officers involved in the incident — a Captain and a Lieutenant — belong to the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. Raghav Chaturvedi, 24, was on his way to the market when a roadside altercation took an ugly turn and the two officers “forcibly took him to their unit” and thrashed him, according to the boy’s mother who works at the Mughal Sheraton, Agra.
Wishing not to be named, she said on Sunday, “I just hope corrective action is taken. My son was thrashed so badly that he could not even speak after the incident. He was in complete shock. If action is not taken against the wrong-doers, such incidents will keep happening.”
Playing down the incident, a senior officer of the para brigade said the matter had been sorted out with the officers tendering a written apology to the boy’s family. However, the family refuted the claim saying it was still awaiting justice. The boy’s father is posted in Babina Cantt.
Officers in the brigade said the two paratroopers had only “threatened” the boy and not beaten him up. But the family says it has medical evidence to back its version of the story.