New Delhi: The Indian Air Force has completed its inquiry into the BrahMos accidental firing in less than a month and has blamed more than one official from the missile squadron for the incident adding that there would be “swift and severe punishment”, reported news agency ANI.
The inquiry was done by Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Offensive) Air Vice Marshal RK Sinha into the March 9 incident where a BrahMos missile accidently got fired and landed up in the Mian Channu area of Pakistan during routine maintenance and inspection.
"More than one official has been found blameworthy for the incident which was totally avoidable. The guilty officials would be given a swift and severe punishment," reported the news agency quoting government sources.
A clear violation of standard operating procedures by the concerned officials was also found by the court of inquiry, it added.
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The government and Indian Air Force top brass are of the view that the punishment should be quick and not allowed to prolong which has happened in many cases earlier, sources said further.
The inquiry also brought out the responsibility of an official in controlling the situation after the missile was accidently launched.
The IAF official heading the probe into the incident was asked to get the inquiry done at the earliest possible so that accountability of officials could be fixed for the mishap which could have caused much more damage, stated ANI in its report.
Indian Air Force has taken the incident very seriously and taking every step internally to ensure that such incidents don't occur in future and various standard operating procedures are being reviewed to see if there is any change required to make things smoother, the sources said
The Defence Ministry has also been briefed about the inquiry committee report and further action is expected in next few weeks, it added.