PUNE, Jan 19: It's not a joke. It's a serious incident.'' This is how Dehu Road Cantonment Board president and station commandant Brig N S Sahaee reacted when MP Ashok Mohol called on him at his office last Wednesday afternoon and sought to know what action was being contemplated by the Army following the incident in which the jawans went on a rampage beating innocent people and hawkers.Mohol, who visited the Dehu Road market area a day after the incident, said after receiving a number of telephone calls from several citizens and reading about the incident in the newspapers, he had left all his day's assignments and immediately rushed to Dehu Road.MP Mohol lead a delegation to the Brigadier's office at the Central Ordnance Depot, five kilometers away from the cantonment town where the incident took place on Tuesday evening. The atmoshpere at Brig Sahaee's office seemed tense as he was attentively listening to Mohol and former state minister Madan Bafna.Bafna said the incident, which was very serious, could have assumed more critical proportions had the jawans taken weapons with them. He stressed on this point on a number of occasions saying he had lost a close relative in an incident at Dapodi in which there was a firing from a military personnel. ``Is there no system where the unit chiefs immediately come to know that a group of jawans suddenly move out of their units taking army vehicles with them,'' Bafna said.Brig Sahaee after listening to Mohol and Bafna described how the Army was taking action in the incident. ``All the headquarters, in Pune and Mumbai have been informed about the incident. A committee of three army officers will be conducting an independent enquiry into all aspects of the case''.Brig Sahaee also informed about some major decisions taken by him. ``The town has been kept out of bounds for all military personnel until further orders.'' This, he said, was done to avoid any further dispute between the civilians and the army, particularly when the situation had turned volatile.He asserted that there was no question of shielding anybody. ``Such types of incidents have also taken place in the past. The army has come down heavily against the guilty persons.'' All the weapons had also been kept under seal, he said.Brig Sahaee expressed regrets over the incident and gave an assurance to the delegation that such incident will not occur in future. As a precautionary measure, the army personnel will also now be deployed for patrolling duty in the market area during the evening hours. In another significant decision, all army personnel of the various defence units have been asked to return to the barracks by 8 pm everyday.The damage caused in the incident will be assessed by the enquiry committee which will submit the report by January 25. People affected in the case will also be summoned as witnesses. The findings and recommendations of the report will also consider the issue of compensation to the affected persons.Mohol said that the relations between the army and the citizens in Dehu Road had always been cordial. The citizens expected that the relations should be maintained in the same manner.
