In
a tragic case of harsh training drills going horribly wrong, a
frontline Indian warship’s captain is in the dock after a newly
commissioned officer drowned after being ordered to jump overboard into
the icy-cold waters of the Arabian Sea.
NEW DELHI: In a tragic case of harsh training drills going horribly
wrong, a frontline Indian warship's captain is in the dock after a newly
commissioned officer drowned after being ordered to jump overboard into
the icy-cold waters of the Arabian Sea.
Captain Rahul 'Rolly' Parmar, a "high-profile officer" commanding the 3,620-tonne guided-missile stealth frigate INS Talwar, has been "relieved" of his command till the naval Board of Inquiry (BoI) being held at the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command (WNC) into the shocking incident is completed.
Sources said Sub-Lieutenant Bipin Kumar, who had to "really struggle" to become an officer coming as he did from "humble origins'' with a retired Army havaldar as his father, drowned after being ordered by Capt Parmar to "jump into the rough sea, without proper safety precautions'' in place, off the Gujarat coast on December 29.
"There were no divers on stand-by, as is the norm, nor any life-jacket. The divers hit the waters almost 20 minutes after Kumar failed to surface. Even his body could not be found,'' said a source.
The Navy, which had kept the incident under wraps, contended it was "a freak, unfortunate accident'' arising from the "mandatory survival at sea'' exercises, on being contacted by TOI on Tuesday morning.
Such drills are regularly held to train all officers and sailors to survive in times of emergencies by first jumping overboard and then swimming well clear of a sinking warship to embark on lifeboats or rafts.
There is "no question" of Kumar being "selectively targeted" since five to six other "under-training officers" had also been lined up on the deck to jump into the sea after Kumar, the Navy said.
Moreover, there was a safety boat, with divers on board, positioned in the water before the drill began on INS Talwar. After Kumar failed to surface, a massive search operation was launched with five to six warships and aircraft being "diverted'' to search the mishap site. The BoI will ascertain the exact sequence of events, whether all requisite safety precautions were taken or not, and fix responsibility if required, the Navy said.
Incidentally, Kumar was a "strong swimmer'', known to have regularly swum across the over 1-km wide Khadakwasla Lake as a cadet in the premier tri-Service National Defence Academy near Pune.
Capt Parmar himself is known as "a bright, competent officer on the fast-track". After having commanded a Kora-class corvette and staff appointments with the flag officer commanding-in-chief of WNC, he was the crucial director of naval operations at Navy HQ in New Delhi.
He had been appointed the captain of INS Talwar, which took part in last month's presidential fleet review, barely a couple of months ago. While new captains are known to "tighten the screws" on ensure their warships and crew fare well in operational tasks, only the BoI will establish what exactly happened in the tragic case.
Captain Rahul 'Rolly' Parmar, a "high-profile officer" commanding the 3,620-tonne guided-missile stealth frigate INS Talwar, has been "relieved" of his command till the naval Board of Inquiry (BoI) being held at the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command (WNC) into the shocking incident is completed.
Sources said Sub-Lieutenant Bipin Kumar, who had to "really struggle" to become an officer coming as he did from "humble origins'' with a retired Army havaldar as his father, drowned after being ordered by Capt Parmar to "jump into the rough sea, without proper safety precautions'' in place, off the Gujarat coast on December 29.
"There were no divers on stand-by, as is the norm, nor any life-jacket. The divers hit the waters almost 20 minutes after Kumar failed to surface. Even his body could not be found,'' said a source.
The Navy, which had kept the incident under wraps, contended it was "a freak, unfortunate accident'' arising from the "mandatory survival at sea'' exercises, on being contacted by TOI on Tuesday morning.
Such drills are regularly held to train all officers and sailors to survive in times of emergencies by first jumping overboard and then swimming well clear of a sinking warship to embark on lifeboats or rafts.
There is "no question" of Kumar being "selectively targeted" since five to six other "under-training officers" had also been lined up on the deck to jump into the sea after Kumar, the Navy said.
Moreover, there was a safety boat, with divers on board, positioned in the water before the drill began on INS Talwar. After Kumar failed to surface, a massive search operation was launched with five to six warships and aircraft being "diverted'' to search the mishap site. The BoI will ascertain the exact sequence of events, whether all requisite safety precautions were taken or not, and fix responsibility if required, the Navy said.
Incidentally, Kumar was a "strong swimmer'', known to have regularly swum across the over 1-km wide Khadakwasla Lake as a cadet in the premier tri-Service National Defence Academy near Pune.
Capt Parmar himself is known as "a bright, competent officer on the fast-track". After having commanded a Kora-class corvette and staff appointments with the flag officer commanding-in-chief of WNC, he was the crucial director of naval operations at Navy HQ in New Delhi.
He had been appointed the captain of INS Talwar, which took part in last month's presidential fleet review, barely a couple of months ago. While new captains are known to "tighten the screws" on ensure their warships and crew fare well in operational tasks, only the BoI will establish what exactly happened in the tragic case.
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