'Habitual Offender': Indian Army Rejects Charge Of Jawan Claiming Harassment

The Army has strongly rejected charge of soldier Chandu Chavan, who inadvertently crossed into Pakistan in 2016 and said he is quitting the Army due to incessant "harassment" in the force. "Since I came back from Pakistan, I have been continuously harassed in the Army and I am being looked at with suspicion, that is why I decided to quit," he had said. In a late evening statement, the Army said Chavan was absconding from his unit following the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him after he was found intoxicated in the unit lines recently.

It said he was declared “absent without leave” with effect from October 3 and that repeated counselling and efforts to rehabilitate him were futile because of his “lackadaisical and complacent attitude”.

“The Army will under no circumstances accept indiscipline of this nature. The unit has also not received any request for premature discharge,” it said.

Chavan has sent his resignation letter to his unit commander in Ahmednagar, sources close to him have said. Chouhan was captured by Pakistan Rangers and for four months, was beaten, tortured and almost killed before being handed over to India.

Last month, he met with an accident and remained admitted in a hospital with deep injuries to his face and skull. Chavan's four teeth broke and he also sustained abrasion below his eyebrow and left chin, as well as his upper lip.

The accident occurred when he was riding his two-wheeler without a helmet which bumped a pothole near his home town Bohrivir in Dhule district of Maharashtra.