Hyderabad: The CBI , which filed an FIR in connection with the ‘unnatural death’ of a seaman in Kakinada port on March 29, almost 27 years after the incident, is facing a daunting task to bring out the facts behind the mysterious death of the Navy sailor.The seaman, Amar Ashok Phalde , died on Sept 21, 1993, while jumping from the Navy chopper into the sea at Kakinada as part of commando training. The case was initially registered at Kakinada Port police station.In the FIR, CBI SP S B Sankar mentioned that the agency registered the case based on the orders of the Hyderabad high court, issued on Dec 17 last year. The HC directed the AP police to transfer the investigation to CBI. Amar Ashok was 25 at the time of his death.In the initial complaint registered at Kakinada Port PS in 1993, Lieutenant Commander N Thaplyyal said, “The sailor was carrying out commando jump from a helicopter to sea on Sept 21 at 6.30 am. He did not surface after jumping into the sea. The body was traced after two days on Sept 23.”The case is now being investigated by S N Subramaniam, CBI ASP in Visakhapatnam. The probe is going to be a daunting task as the case is 27 years old. Though the court has ordered Navy to cooperate with CBI officials, who will also collect other details and files from the local police, it is going to be tough for the central CBI to grill the ‘witnesses’ and ‘suspects’ in the case.The case was reopened after Anuradha Ashok Paldhe, mother of Amar Ashok, a resident of Dombivali East in Mumbai, filed a writ petition before the Bombay high court in 1995, seeking directions from the court for disclosure of exact cause of her son’s death. She also asked for diatom tests on the preserved pars of the deceased and to collect water samples from the site of the accident. She demanded that the findings of the board of inquiry of Indian Navy should be disclosed and suitable monetary compensation be awarded. Naval authorities argued in Bombay high court that they do not have the jurisdiction as the incident happened in Kakinada and monetary compensation cannot be awarded in writ jurisdiction.In 1997, the deceased sailor’s parents filed a petition before the second additional senior civil judge in Kakinada, stating that the death of Amar Ashok happened due to the negligence of Navy authorities. After failing to meet success there, Anuradha filed a petition in the HC in 2014, alleging inaction by the AP government, East Godavari SP and station house officer of Kakinada Port police station. The HC issued orders for a fresh board of inquiry. The order was challenged by the Union government and Navy’s Western Naval Command, following which the HC asked the case to be transferred to the CBI.

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