Rejecting defence minister A.K. Anthony’s contention that her son had in fact committed suicide, Shaurya Chakra winner Capt. Sumeet Kohli’s mother, Veena Kohli said on Friday that she would petition the high court in Chandigarh for a “fair and independent inquiry to bring out the actual circumstances and the people responsible” for the young officer’s death in April 2006.
The anguished mother said she must approach the court as a final option after the defence minister, despite assuring a comprehensive reinvestigation of Capt. Kohli’s demise, disappointed her.
“Mr Antony had assured me of a reinvestigation of the mysterious death of my son when I met him some months ago. But now his recent statement in Parliament (that Kolhi’s death was a case of suicide and did not warrant any further inquiry) has been shocking. I am not even aware if a fresh probe was ever conducted into Sumeet’s death,” Ms Kohli said. She claimed that contrary to Mr Anthony’s assertions, “We are not aware who investigated the death of my son and the ministry has not given us a copy of the inquiry report or any documents pertaining to fresh investigations.”
“I will now not settle for anything less than a full investigation by the CBI and have decided on moving the Punjab & Haryana high court for this,” she added.
Notably, earlier this September, following a meeting with Ms Kohli, the defence minister had ordered a fresh probe which was communicated to the Army Chief and also confirmed by the Union defence secretary.
The Kohli family’s counsel at Chandigarh, Mr Guneet Chaudhary, said he would seek details pertaining to the new inquest purportedly conducted on the defense minister’s directions under the provisions of the Right to Information Act. Capt. Sumit Kohli, recently decorated for uncommon gallantry with the Shaurya Chakra, was discovered dead with a gunshot through his head in the military barracks in Jammu & Kashmir’s Lolab Valley near Kupwara on April 30, 2006.