Army officer's letter highlights police inaction in murder case

 An army officer’s letter to Haryana governor has brought to light the dilemma of a soldier who protects the country’s borders when his family is not safe back home.

“A soldier goes to the battlefield leaving behind his family at home with the confidence that some law and order prevails back home to guard his loved ones. If he is ready to give all for his country, the least the administration can do to reciprocate his selfless service is ensure protection and justice to the ones he leaves behind,” Major Chikkara said on Monday a letter seeking swift justice.  

Major Sushil Chikkara, currently posted in Agra, could not save his father and younger brother from a gangster back home in his native village in Haryana, despite alerting the police in Sonipat about the threat to his family members. 

On May 12, Major Sushil lit the  funeral pyre of his father and brother who were brutally killed from point blank range by a gangster in cold blood for not supporting his brother in the Panchayat elections in the village few months ago.

Unfortunately, days after the incident, the accused gangster, who has killed three and injured one in the village in the last one month, is still at large. The incident has sparked outrage from several quarters, including ex-servicemen.

Major Chikkara’s father Jagbir Singh and brother Anil, 25, of Karewari village were killed by Kannu Chikkara. On the day the officer lost his family, he called up the Sonipat SP from Agra intimating the threat to his family. The police, however, is denying inaction or laxity in the case saying the father-son duo were not at home when the SP rushed a police team headed by a DSP to the village.

Talking to DH, Col R S Sandhu, a retired Ordinance Corps officer, lamented the incident saying its high time the civil administration takes proper care of soldiers and their families. “How do you think a brave officer will feel inspired on duty when such incidents occur back home,” he said.

Meanwhile, Capt Rashita Sharda, wife of the officer, said she has written a letter to the President seeking justice and directions to the state government for action against the police chief for inaction. She said the police has not visited their house once since the incident.  

One of the officer’s school mate posted, “And since this is not a soldier’s battlefield (the border), he is relying on the police authorities concerned to nab the miscreants and deliver swift justice...They (soldiers) protect the borders, but who protects their loved ones?"