Missing Jawan Found Dead, Family Says Police Didn’t Inform Them of Death For 10 Days, Seeks Justice

The last rites were performed on Sunday.

Mumbai, May 28: The widow of Army jawan NG Chopde has alleged that her complaint wasn’t taken seriously even as the last rites of the jawan were performed at his village Babhulgaon Bk near Aurangabad on Sunday. Chopde had gone missing in missing in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur and his body recovered a few days later. “My complaint was not taken seriously. When I informed the Army unit, they thought I was lying & did not do anything for 3-4 days. They thought this was all being done to extend his leave. I want justice,” she said.

According to him, the family filed a missing complaint about Chopde in Jabalpur on May 20. He said the jawan was found dead the same day by another police station 12 km away. “We again went to Jabalpur 10 days later but they didn’t inform us of anything. We went to the Army unit and got to know of this,” he said. He said it was hard to believe that the two police stations, which are about 12 km apart, had no coordination that they could be informed of Chopde’s death. He said that the family got to know of the death when they went to an “Army office” where an official got the information on his WhatsApp. He said the way the police handled the case reflected on their casual approach.

Amid mourning, Chopde’s last rites were performed in his village. Speaking to media, his widow narrated the family’s ordeal and said, “When I informed the Army unit, they didn’t take it seriously. They probably felt we were lying just so we could extend his leave.” She alleged that the Army didn’t take any action on her complaint for a few days. She said all she wanted was justice for her family.