Curioser and curioser — Navy now claims commando `shot himself’

This latest theory leaves several questions unanswered: how did a member of the elite marine commandoes (MARCOS) fire 23 bullets and yet fail to achieve results and simply end up nicking himself in the thigh?

What also remains unexplained are the whereabouts of commando Satbir Singh’s buddy. Guard duty is always in buddy system (pairs of two). The navy is still to divulge the movements of Singh’s buddy when the commando allegedly tried to commit suicide. The sprawling complex has two guards at either gate plus commandoes patrolling along the periphery at regular intervals.

Marine commandoes are well versed in both armed and unarmed combat, but the bullet did not even pierce the bone, leaving only a superficial flesh wound. Where did he fire all the bullets? Why should someone wanting to kill himself shoot himself in the thigh? The navy’s lips are sealed, as they have been since the incident took place on December 1.

At least two officers of the rank of Vice Admirals (equivalent to army Lieutenant Generals) and several naval officers rushed to the Navy House in the middle of the night after the incident and remained closeted in meetings with the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Sushil Kumar.

However, all along, police officials were not permitted to enter the premises. Later in the day, the navy came out with a terse statement saying the MARCO had received “minor injuries” in an exchange of fire. Yet, the police were not permitted to question him on medical grounds.

Captain Uday Rao from the Directorate of Naval Intelligence began the inquiry, which is still underway. But it took police commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma’s “threat” yesterday to spill all within two days that made the navy posit its new theory. “The guard states that he has been under severe depression due to an on-going family feud and that he had decided to commit suicide. However, to guard his family interests, he claims to have fabricated evidence of intrusion,” a naval spokesperson said today.

“A guard on duty does not leave his post and go looking for his reliever. If the reliever for some reason does not come then the guard stays on. The navy’s story that the other guard went looking for the reliever cannot be true. The navy is trying to hide something or shield someone,” an official told The Indian Express.

Admiral Sushil Kumar had gone on record to rule out any internal role and sought to buttress the intrusion theory saying he had been receiving death threats for the past one year. He refused to elaborate on the nature of the death threats and the source, but naval officials said the threats were forwarded to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The IB shot back saying there were no specific threats to the naval chief.