Army to recall 'Ketchup' Col, seniors let off

TOP GUNS: Col Kohli was following orders of his seniors Major Gen Ravinder Singh (L) and Brig Rao.

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Keywords: Brigadier S Rao, Major General Ravinder Singh

New Delhi: Last year CNN-IBN had reported how senior army officers were faking kills to win gallantry awards. The entire controversy, infamously known as Ketchup Colonel episode, ended the career of Colonel HS Kohli.

Col Kohli, commanding officer of an artillery regiment, had taken photographs of civilians splashed with tomato ketchup posing as corpses and gave them to his seniors to stake claim for gallantry award.

The incident took place at Bada Nagadun near Silchar in Assam in 2003 and Col Kohli was dismissed from the army in November 2004 after a court martial found him guilty.

Col Kohli had claimed that he acted under the orders of his seniors.

Now the army seems ready to reinstate him with a five-year service cut but the seniors who gave the orders won't be prosecuted.

It's been five long years for Col Kolhi also infamously called the 'Ketchup Colonel'.

A CNN-IBN investigation had shown how the man was following orders that came straight from his immediate seniors Major General Ravinder Singh, the then GoC and Brigadier S Rao.

Letters and taped evidence all pointed to the complicity from the top, but no action was taken against the General who pushed for kills

In a letter being circulated within the Ministry of Defence, there is a clear admission of the involvement of the General and how he could be held guilty of serious misconduct.

The Ministry calls the Army's decision not to take action against him a convenient one. A decision that may not be legally tenable if anyone decides to go to court.

The Ministry is also acutely aware that the sensitive case could set a precedent for other fake encounter cases the force has been grappling with

The Army does not want to spread the blame game so it made the following recommendations to the Ministry of Defence:

• Col Kolhi be reinstated with a five-year loss of service and a severe reprimand.
• Mainly because he defied the illegal order to kill the detainees in his custody, though could not resist the suggestion to show them as kills in fake encounters
• Col Kolhi's immediate senior Brig Rao who gave the order is already back in service.
• So in the interest of equity and justice the Colonel cannot be given a punishment higher than that.

A final decision by the Ministry of Defence in expected in the next few days and the big focus will be on Col Kohli and whether he will take the blame for an entire chain of commanders who were willing to push for kills in the rush for gallantry awards.