A case has been filed against the Army officer (Representational)

New Delhi:

An Army officer in Ladakh has been accused of assaulting a police officer of Sub Inspector rank at the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh.

According to available information the officer, a serving Lieutenant Colonel, also called members of his unit to his aid, following which there was a commotion at the airport.

“A case for causing voluntary hurt has been registered against the individual and (the) law is being followed,” a senior Ladakh Police officer told NDTV.

“There has been an incident at Ladakh airport but it is a local issue as both these men are locals there,” a senior Indian Army official told NDTV, adding, “The incident is not related to (the) forcible entry of (a) vehicle on airport premises”.

As Ladakh is a Union Territory and the administration reports to the Union Home Ministry, the police have sent a report to the ministry’s offices in Delhi. According to the report charges have been filed under Section 332 of the Indian Penal Code.

“It is a case against an individual and not the force he represents and he would be treated as per law,” a senior official in the Home Ministry’s Office said.

Ladakh has been in the news recently due to tension with China over a military stand-off following reports of skirmishes between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the Pangong Lake region in the eastern part of the union territory.

The Home Ministry had been informed that Chinese troops were spotted patrolling on the lake in motorboats and Chinese helicopters were seen in skies over disputed regions.

A disengagement process has since been started, with first round of talks between senior military commanders held on June 6 on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On Saturday the Army said the process is ongoing.