According to the Indian Air Force, three officers were dismissed after mistakenly shooting a missile into Pakistan on March 9. The decision was made as a result of the Court of Inquiry’s finding that 3 officers’ violation from SOP caused the unintentional launch of a Brahmos missile that landed in Pakistan.
According to a formal statement, the officers’ services were terminated after a Court of Inquiry (CoI) determined that their divergence from Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) caused the missile to be accidentally fired.
Following the incident, the Defence Ministry described it as “deeply regrettable” while Pakistan lodged a strong protest over it.
Read More: Brahmos fire on Pakistan: A question mark on Indian credibility as responsible state actor
“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,” the statement said.
Even though the Indian Air Force omitted to mention the names and ranks of the officials whose services were terminated, it has come to light that one of the three is a group captain.
Pakistan protested to India the day after the incident took place. The missile was fired unintentionally, according to the Defence Ministry, and it landed in Pakistan on March 11. The ministry had previously stated that the incident was brought on by a technical error during routine missile maintenance and that the government had treated the incident seriously.
Separately, Rajnath Singh, the minister of defence, stated in Parliament on March 15 that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the use, upkeep, and inspection of such systems were being examined.
Following the incident, Pakistan summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad and expressed its vehement protest over the supersonic “projectile” of Indian origin’s “unprovoked” violation of its airspace.
Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, said that the unarmed rocket entered Pakistani airspace after travelling 124 miles.
The “super-sonic flying object,” according to the Pakistani foreign ministry, entered Pakistan via Suratgarh in India and crashed nearby the city of Mian Channu, causing damage to civilian property.
The Pakistan foreign office had also called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident and demanded that its outcome be shared with Islamabad.