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For 18 yrs, naval diver’s mom searches for truth behind his death

Navy claims diver’s death was an accident, dombivli family alleges negligence.

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For the last 18 years, Anuradha Paldhe has been trying to get to the root of the death of her “exceptionally extraordinary son”, who died on September 21, 1993, during a naval exercise while serving as a diver in the Eastern Naval Command. A retired school teacher, the 66-year-old Dombivli resident has been trying to uncover the real reasons behind her son’s death, which remains shrouded in a bureaucratic maze.

While the Navy has termed the death of her sailor son Amar an accident, Anuradha claims it to be sheer negligence on the part of his superior and later his department. The Navy, in its Board of Inquiry (BoI) report, stated that Amar died due to a combined effect of shock, haemorrhage and multiple injuries, and drowning. But Anurada has uncovered facts which hint otherwise.

“The post-mortem report clearly mentioned the ante-mortem injuries on his axilla and near his ear, which contradicts the verdict of the operation in-charge,” she said, while claiming that the BoI report submitted in the court exposed the negligence by Amar’s superiors. In fact, the report, which was shown to her by the court, leaves many questions unanswered.

“The junior-most in the team of four, Amar was not trained to jump off a helicopter. Also, he was not provided with a life jacket, a quick release belt for use in emergencies,” she said. “Most importantly, he was taken directly for the exercise operation only a day after he reported back from a 45-day leave, which was uncalled for.”

Citing the Navy’s apathy towards its own men, Anuradha said, “We were told at first that a rescue or search operation could not be launched as it was high tide at the time of the incident. When we pointed out that it was indeed low tide at the time, they were left speechless. Also, Amar’s body at the Visakhapatnam hospital was not preserved at the stipulated temperature,” she said.

After a series of correspondence with naval officers failed, the Paldhes moved the district magistrate court, which in 1997 ordered a compensation of Rs10 lakh. The relief by the lower court was later upheld by the Hyderabad high court.

Simultaneously, the family had moved Bombay high court, which showed them the confidential Board of Inquiry report.

Stating that “compensation was never our motto,” Anuradha said she only wants to know the truth. “We want the Navy to take due care of their own cadets,” said Amar’s younger brother Pratap.

Anuradha is now writing a book on the incident and the legal fight that followed. “Had he been killed in war, I would not have uttered a single word. But he did not deserve to die due to negligence,” she said.

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