An incident involving the alleged assault of an Army Commanding Officer (CO) by an Assistant Defence Estate Officer (ADEO) has sparked a heated debate, particularly on social media. The confrontation reportedly escalated when ADEO Triyam Singh refused to sign crucial board proceedings for a Line of Control (LoC) fencing project, leading to a physical altercation and subsequent retaliation by Sikh soldiers.
Colonel Ankush Chaudhary, the commanding officer of the engineer regiment, was tasked with overseeing the construction of fencing along the LoC, a project aimed at preventing infiltration following a recent attack in Pahalgam. When ADEO Triyam Singh reportedly refused to sign the necessary board proceedings for the project, colonel Chaudhary personally visited the ADEO’s office to address the issue. During this meeting, Singh allegedly not only refused to cooperate but also misbehaved with and assaulted colonel Chaudhary. In response, soldiers from the engineer regiment retaliated.
The incident was brought to light by army veteran Sushil Singh Sheoran, who shared details on X. He stated, “The Defence Estate Office (DEO) within the Ministry of Defence is known for its corruption and often tries to stall projects in exchange for bribes.”
The alleged assault and subsequent retaliation quickly prompted strong reactions among social media users, especially within the military veteran community.
Many expressed staunch support for the soldiers’ actions, emphasising the profound bond between a CO and their troops. KJS Dhillon (@TinyDhillon), for instance, stated, “For the soldiers, CO (commanding officer) is next only to the God. Touching a CO has consequences. A CO has responsibility to protect his jawans and he will lay down his life doing so and vice versa for the jawans.”
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Devendra Pratap Pandey (@LtGenDPPandey) echoed this sentiment, adding, “Touching a CO has consequences. If his soldiers are around it is playing with fire. With the soldiers of the CO. Proud of them.” Pramod Kumar Singh (@SinghPramod2784) further commented that the “ADEO is plain lucky that soldiers were not around” and felt the retaliation “was very light.”
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“Excellent response by the COs troops. Patiala cops and the then SSP are lucky they got away scot-free,” writer Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) commented, referring to the Patiala colonel assault case of March when colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were assaulted by personnel from the Punjab Police.
The incident sparked outrage and led to the suspension of 12 police officers.
