Kollam/Nashik: Artillery gunner Roy Mathew, 33, from Kollam district, who was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in an abandoned barrack in Deolali cantonment, Nashik, on March 2, was the victim of a sting operation conducted by a mediaperson, according to his relatives. The Nashik police booked Poonam Agrawal, a woman journalist of a news portal, for allegedly doing a sting on the abuse of the “buddy” system in the Army by videographing Mathew. The case was registered at Deolali camp police station on Monday night against Agrawal under Sections 3 (spying) and 7 (interfering with officers of the police or members of the armed forces of Union) of the Official Secrets Act. She was accused of violating Army rules by entering prohibited areas and conducting a shoot there, Mr Vinayak Lokare, the station in-charge said.
Mathew of Karuvelil, Ezhukon, Kollam district, had joined the Army 13 years ago and was working as artillery gunner with the Rocket Regiment 214 in Nashik camp for the last one year. The scribe was also booked under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 451(criminal trespass), 500(defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, after a complaint was made by the Army officials. Agrawal is accused of entering Heig Lines in Deolali camp without the permission of the authorities and filming the premises besides carrying out a sting operation on Roy Mathew and other jawans on February 24 in which she is said to have asked leading questions, the police official said.
The police had also recovered a diary from Mathew’s barrack with some scribbling in Malayalam fearing possible action from his superiors. A case of accidental death was then registered by Nashik police under section 174 (police to inquire and report on suicide) of CrPC. The jawan went missing on February 25 after he purportedly figured in the expose by the portal. The video showed soldiers walking the dogs of senior Army officials or taking their children to school. According to his family in Kerala, Mathew made his last phone call to them on February 25 and from the way he talked it appeared that he was in a frightened state. He told them that he had recently spoken to a mediaperson about the woes of the soldiers in the Army and of the menial tasks which they were asked to do. He said these things after ensuring that he was not being recorded. But later, to his shock, the video went viral as his interview was secretly recorded.
Roy feared that he would lose his job and would have to face the consequences for the act. The jawan was laid to rest in Kollam on March 4 after a fresh autopsy was conducted following the insistence of his family, who raised doubts over this death. Alleging that there were marks of beating on his feet and that blood had clotted in some parts, his relatives, including his wife Finy, had refused to accept the body until a fresh post-mortem was conducted at the Thiruvananthapuram MCH According to the autopsy report, the reason for the death was “hanging” which led the police to infer that he had committed suicide. The relatives suspected foul-play in delaying the analysis report of his internal organs, the samples of which were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad.
“Both the autopsy reports, one from Nashik and another from Thiruvananthapuram, conclude that his death was caused by hanging. the chemical analysis report of his internal organs sent to Hyderabad is still pending. We suspect foul-play in this,” Roy Mathew’s uncle George Joseph told DC. George said the “entire trouble” was caused by the mediaperson’s mistake. “And we still don’t know what exactly has happened to him,” he added. The family members of Mathew, including his parents and wife, will leave for Nashik to complete the official proceedings. Two representatives from the Army unit in Nashik reached Kollam a couple of days back and are currently staying in his house. The duo will accompany the family to the Army camp in Nashik. “We need to sign the papers and documents as part of the procedure. We also intend to inspect his bunker and the place where the body was found,” George added.
