Army orders probe even as crew of the Cheetah are debriefed.
A day after a Cheetah helicopter strayed into Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Indian army on Monday launched a preliminary probe into the incident and multiple agencies began debriefing of all the four crew members aboard the chopper.
“It was not an error of intention, but an error of judgement. Probe has been initiated to establish the exact reason behind the error on the part of the pilot. The crew is being de-briefed at Kargil base camp. We were told by the crew that they were treated well in PoK,” said an army official. De-briefing is a routine exercise which involves multiple agencies including intelligence agencies questioning the armymen after a mission.
Two Army Aviation Corps pilots Major RG Raja and G Kapila, ferrying an engineer Lt Col SP Verma and a JCO Subedar Akhilesh Sharma, had taken off from Leh to repair a technical snag in another Cheetah grounded in Bhimbat in Drass sector.
But due to bad weather conditions, the pilot crossed over to PoK, where it was forced to landed by Pakistani army.
The helicopter and crew were allowed to leave several hours later after the Directors General of Military Operations of the two sides established contact. Army sources said the Pakistan army personnel questioned the two pilots and two crew members about how they came there and other related issues in an effort to ascertain their motives.
Meanwhile, an unnamed official said in normal circumstances, military personnel of a hostile country “were not freed in hours, but it had been done to give benefit of doubt because Pakistan did not want to vitiate the atmosphere and derail the composite dialogue process.”
—With Agency inputs
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}