The defence ministry, on Tuesday, terminated the services of three officials of the Indian Air Force after a high-level probe held them responsible for the March 9 accidental firing of a Brahmos missile that landed in Pakistan.
The Court of Inquiry (CoA) into the incident found that deviation from the SOP by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile. Following the incident, the defence ministry described it as “deeply regrettable”.
“A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9. A Court of Inquiry (Col), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile,” an official statement said.
“These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the central government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23,” it said.
IAF dismissed Group Captain rank officer (equivalent to Colonel in Army), Wing Commander (Lt.Col.), Squadron Leader (Major) for not following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
These three officers are primarily responsible for the missile accident. They were immediately dismissed from service by the Central Government. On August 23, orders have been issued to remove them from their jobs,’ the IAF announced.
