Accidental missile firing incident: Probe points to role of Group Captain

New Delhi: The investigation by Indian Air Force into its procedures for operations after accidentally launching a missile is pointing towards a Group Captain rank officer for firing the unarmed BrahMos supersonic missile into Pakistan on March 9. The probe is being conducted by an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer who is posted at the Air Headquarters and is most qualified to conduct the investigation, according to government sources.

The sources said the detailed probe by the Air Force officer (equivalent to Major General in the Army) is still going on but prima facie, a Group Captain-rank officer is being seen as blameworthy. The officer was in-charge of the mobile command post of the missile system when the accidental firing happened during a Command Air Staff Inspection (CASI) at its home base.

However, the sources said the probe would be finalised in a time-bound manner and final details would be known only after that.

The sources said the AVM probing the incident is highly qualified and is in-charge of operations in the Air Force headquarters.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on March 15 had stated in Parliament that a high-level probe has been ordered into the incident involving the accidental launch of a missile that landed in Pakistan.

"A missile was unfortunately accidentally launched on March 9. The incident occurred during a routine inspection. We later came to know that it had landed in Pakistan," he had informed the Rajya Sabha.

Making it clear that the Indian missile system is extremely trustworthy and secure, the Defence Minister had stated that Indian armed forces are experienced in handling such systems.

Pakistan has been trying to rake up the issue of accidental missile firing at the international stage without realising that the BrahMos missile is just a tactical system and was unarmed at the time of the incident.