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16 days on, no trace of missing sailor, parents seek CBI probe
The distraught family on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh to order a CBI probe after there was no clue of Navy sailor Sahil Verma of Jammu’s Ghou Manhasan area, who went missing from INS Kochi on February 27.
With no clue of Navy sailor Sahil Verma of Jammu’s Ghou Manhasan area, who went missing from INS Kochi on February 27, the distraught family on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh to order a CBI probe to unravel the truth.
The family suspected that something wrong happened to Sahil on INS Kochi.
In a post on X on March 2, the Western Naval Command said that a board of inquiry has been set up for a detailed investigation.
“In an unfortunate incident, Sahil Verma seaman II has been reported missing at sea from an Indian Naval Ship whilst on deployment since February 27. The Navy immediately launched a massive search operation with ships and aircraft, which is still continuing,” Western Naval Command wrote on ‘X’, formerly Twitter.
“Last Friday, three relatives went to the INS Kochi and met the captain and three officers of the board of inquiry constituted by the Western Naval Command. However, we didn’t get any satisfactory replies from them,” said Sahil’s father Subhash Chander Verma.
Subhash Chander runs a tyre repair shop. He said that two uncles of Sahil and another relative had gone to the ship to meet the naval officers.
“We doubt that something wrong has happened to our son,” said Subhash Chander.
“On Monday, we were taken to the INS Kochi where we were shown Sahil’s duty room. We were also shown CCTV footage of February 26. We clearly saw Sahil in it around 7.30 am that day. However, the officials could not show us the CCTV footage of February 27 and we feel that something wrong happened with Sahil on that day,” he said.
Sahil’s uncle Sohan Verma, who had gone to the ship, informed HT that the captain of the ship refused to share any information with them and asked them to meet the officials of the board of inquiry.
“The officers asked us some questions, which we replied but the officials remained mute to our questions. We urge the PM, home minister and defence minister to order a CBI probe,” said Subhash Chander.
Sahil was just 19 years old when he joined the Navy as seaman II in 2022 after completing his schooling from government higher secondary school in Ghou Manhasan.
Sohan also claimed that despite assurances from J&K LG Manoj Sinha, nothing has been done.
“The Naval authorities have not been able to trace Sahil. We suspect that something wrong has happened to him. We demand a CBI probe into the incident,” he said.
