Ex-Army man George PJ – one of the two petitioners who filed a PIL in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking an independent investigation into the death of Gunner Roy Mathew – alleged, on 8 May, that the jawan did not commit suicide, but it was a murder that the Army was covering up.
Speaking at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, George said that he suspected foul play on the part of the Army. George and fellow ex-Army man Chandrasekhara Pillai filed the PIL on behalf of the Welfare Association of Ex-Army Aviation Technicians based in Kerala.
Following the PIL, the apex court, on Friday, issued a notice to the government (the Ministry of Defence), the office of the Chief of Army Staff and the Maharashtra government in connection with Mathew’s death and the misuse of the Sahayak system.
George said that there was no mention of suicide in the three-page note, allegedly written by Mathew.
The note was full of apologies. He said sorry to his father, his villagers and even Commanding Officer Anil Jatare, but he never mentioned committing suicide in it.George PJ
The petitioner further said:
The last call he made was between 8 pm and 8:15 pm where he said the video was going viral on social media. He said he feared action by the Army against him, but he never intimated anyone that he was going to commit suicide.
George also said that while the Army maintains that they had no information about Mathew after 8.15 pm on 25 February, there are at least three eyewitnesses who saw him alive on 26 February.
On 26 February, Mathew was marched into the Colonel’s office with two other people and he was seen alive by at least one other person that day.
The petitioner said he visited the site where Mathew allegedly committed suicide and observed that there was no way the gunner could have accessed the roof to tie the noose to hang himself.
Appearing for the petitioners in the Supreme Court, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan argued:
It is shocking that the Army has allowed the Sahayak system till now. Also, the Army and the local police cannot be trusted with the investigation into the mysterious death of Gunner Roy Mathew.
Mathew’s body was found in an abandoned barrack in Deolali Cantonment near Nashik on 2 March. The Army alleged that Mathew committed suicide because of the sting operation carried out by The Quint’s reporter Poonam Agarwal, which exposed the misuse of the Sahayak system.
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