Jalandhar: A wing commander and a flying officer were today slapped with a murder charge after an IAF civilian employee died under mysterious circumstances in Adampur air force station near here.

The IAF has ordered an independent Court of Inquiry and said it will cooperate with the police probe into the case. Group D employee Sachin Bahri (26) came out of a toilet in the air base camp this morning and began vomiting after which he was given first aid and rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead, police said.

IAF Western Air Command spokesman Wing Commander Manish Gandhi however said "prima facie, this is a case of suicide". As the case was filed by civil police, IAF authorities "will extend full cooperation" in the probe and the Air Command had on its own instituted a COI, he said.

Adampur police station SHO J F Randhawa said a case under section 302 (murder) IPC was registered against Wing Commander Bharat Kumar and Flying Officer M R Morya. He said the body had been sent for post-mortem to civil hospital and the statement of his father Govind Ram recorded.

Air base officials said Bahri committed suicide by ingesting a poisonous substance, which was also found in the pocket of his jacket, but were awaiting the autopsy report. His family however alleged he died due to "excessive torture", was kept working after office hours and did not return home at night.
They also staged a protest outside the main gate of the air base along with supporters before police intervened.

Senior Superintendent of Police Arpit Shukla confirmed registration of a case of murder against the IAF officers but ruled out immediate arrests.

Source : PTI