New Delhi: Three officers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were sacked on Tuesday for the accidental firing of a missile that landed in Pakistan in March this year after a Court of Inquiry (CoI) found that they deviated from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The IAF also confirmed that the missile was a BrahMos make, as defence experts had speculated.

An official statement said the services of the officers were terminated because their actions were responsible for the accidental firing of the missile.

"A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9. A Court of Inquiry (Col), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile," the statement said.

"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the central government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23," it said.

Though the IAF did not mention the ranks and names of the officials whose services have been terminated, it is learnt that a Group Captain is among them, according to the news agency PTI.

The accidental firing took place on March 9 and Pakistan had lodged its protest with India the next day.

On March 11, the defence ministry said the missile was fired accidentally and it landed in Pakistan.

The ministry had said then that it was caused by a technical malfunction in the course of the routine maintenance of the missile, adding the government has taken a serious view of the incident.

Separately, defence minister Rajnath Singh told parliament on March 15 that the SOPs for operations, maintenance, and inspection of such systems were being reviewed.

Following the incident, Pakistan summoned India's Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad and conveyed its strong protest over the "unprovoked" violation of its airspace by the supersonic "projectile" of Indian origin.

Major General Babar Iftikhar, the Director-General of the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan, said the unarmed projectile entered the Pakistani airspace travelling 124 km.

The Pakistan foreign office said the "super-sonic flying object" entered Pakistan from India's Suratgarh and fell to the ground near Mian Channu city, causing damage to civilian property.

The Pakistan foreign office also called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident and demanded that its outcome be shared with Islamabad.

The accidental firing was also taken stock overseas because it was the first-ever such episode involving two nuclear-weapon states who are hostile towards each other.

(With PTI inputs)

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