IAF orders Court of Inquiry into death of trainee flying officer
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday said it has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the death of a trainee flying officer in Bengaluru, after police charged six of its officers with murder in the case.
Ankit Kumar Jha was found hanging at AFTC. The charges against the Indian Air Force officers were
slapped following a complaint by Jha's brother, a police officer said in Bengaluru.
Indian Air Force in its offical statement said the deceased UTFO had joined Indian Air Force in February 2021 and was undergoing training at Air Force Technical College (AFTC).
His training had been terminated on 20 September 2022, after informing his father of the same.
Termination of training was the result of recommendations made by a Court of Inquiry (COI), which was instituted following a complaint
by a fellow woman trainee officer against the UTFO on 30 June 2022. It had been established that the UFTO had committed certain acts of misconduct.
The Inquiry proceedings were duly examined at multiple levels before being approved at Air HQ, as per established procedure on the subject.
As per the existing norms, an Indian Air Force officer was deputed to convey the news of this unfortunate happening to the parents of late UFTO AK Jha, in New Delhi.
A postmortem examination was conducted on 23 September 2022. The report is awaited. A Court of Inquiry by IAF is underway to establish the circumstances leading to the death of the UTFO.
On 24 September 2022, his kin visited AFTC. They were briefed about the incident.
"It had been established that the UFTO had committed certain acts of misconduct. The inquiry proceedings were duly examined at multiple levels before being approved at the Air headquarters, as per established procedure on the subject," the Indian Air Force (IAF) said.
Indian Air Force condoles the unfortunate loss of life and prays for strength to the bereaved family in their time of grief. IAF is cooperating with the investigation being conducted by the police on the matter.
