An INA spokesperson has said Gudeppa Sooraj was found with fatal injuries after he was caught cheating during the terminal examination on Wednesday. “During the terminal examination, he was caught by the invigilator for cheating. The matter was reported to an internal committee. But in the evening, we heard about the incident,” said an INA spokesperson.
‘Unnatural death’
Reacting to the allegation of Sooraj’s family, the official said it was expected since it was an unnatural death. The INA was cooperating with the investigation to find out the truth, he added.
The spokesperson said that the cadet, who had been a Navy sailor, had been selected to be trained as an officer. At the end of the second year of the training, he had been caught for malpractice. As per the standard operation of the Navy, he had been withdrawn from the INA.
The Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Branch, in its verdict had accepted that the cadet was guilty of malpractices, the official said. But it had ordered his readmission considering his age and clean record during his service as a sailor.
“When he joined the INA in January, the cadet was given a new academy number, a new identity and a new squadron to give him a chance to start afresh,” the INA official said.
