Navy officer dismissed for sending lewd messages to women

After the wife-swapping allegations, the Indian Navy has been hit by another embarrassment as one of its Commanders has been found guilty of sending lewd messages to several women and subsequently dismissed.

The issue of dismissal of the officer deployed on the country's only aircraft carrier INS Virat comes soon after Defence Minister A K Antony dismissed another officer who was found guilty of having illicit relations with his superior's wife.

The name of the officer in the rank of commander (equal to lieutenant colonel in army) was recommended for dismissal by a court martial in January this year. He was later dismissed from service, Navy spokesperson Commander P V Satish said.

He said the officer was dismissed on the charges of 'unbecoming of an officer' as he was using multiple numbers to send lewd messages to several women both in and out of the force.

The navy spokesperson's announcement about punishment to its own officer comes at a time when the force has been busy firefighting allegations of swapping by the wife of one of its own officer.

While the Navy has been busy shielding its officers saying there was "no merit" in the charges, the Defence Minister has made it clear that strict action would be taken if anyone was found guilty in the case.

Antony has stated that three simultaneous investigations were going on by the Delhi police, Kerala police and the navy itself in the wife-swapping allegations.

In the recent times, there have been several cases of misconduct in the navy including one involving a Commodore- level officer who was dismissed for having sexual relations with a woman in Russia during his posting there to oversee the construction of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.