Coast Guard DIG B.K. Loshali, who was facing an inquiry for publicly contradicting the government over the sinking of a Pakistani ship off Gujarat coast on New Year’s Eve, has been dismissed from service.
“He was dismissed from services after the Board of Inquiry found him guilty of all the charges on Saturday. The inquiry was conducted by a panel of senior Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) rank officers for over three months,” said a senior Coast Guard official on Monday.
Loshali kicked up a controversy after a recording of his speech at a gathering emerged in public, showing him contradicting the Centre’s official line on the sinking of the so-called terror boat off Gujarat coast on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1.
“Let me tell you. I hope you remember 31st December night… we blew off that Pakistan… We have blown them off… I was there at Gandhinagar and I told at night, blow the boat off. We don’t want to serve them biryani..." he reportedly said on February 15.
Taking a serious view of his remarks, a CoI was constituted and he was removed him from the position of Chief of Staff, North West and was attached to the force's Gandhinagar-based regional headquarters. The CoI ordered into the incident found him guilty following which he was court martialed.
Coast Guard officially claimed to have intercepted an explosive-laden boat off Gujarat coast, which originated from Pakistan on New Year’s Eve of this year after thorough surveillance. Defence Ministry has consistently maintained that the occupants on board refused to cooperate after being intercepted and blew up the boat.
On the other hand in this year’s Republic Day celebrations, Commandant Chandra Shekhar Joshi, commander of Coast Guard ship Rajratan, which was involved in the operation that led to sinking of the Pakistani boat got the President’s Tatrakshak Medal for displaying conspicuous acts of gallantry. The move was by many seen as an attempt by the government to put an end to the controversy surrounding the incident.
