Indian soldier Chandu Babulal Chavan returned 'traumatised' from Pakistan, needed help to walk: Report

Delhi: Indian soldier, Chandu Babulal Chavan, who was handed over by Pakistan on January 21, returned to his country in an 'incoherent' and 'traumatised' state, as per a media report.

Hindustan Times quoted an Army official as saying, “He was like a child who has been lost. It took him several hours to realise he was back home in India. He needed help even to walk."

HT also quoted sources as saying that the 22-year old was “traumatised and incoherent”.

An army official added, “He was incoherent when he returned. The process of debriefing has only just begun and he will also be taken back to his unit in Poonch as part of the inquiry.”

Further, the report said that as per officials, Pakistan broke protocol by keeping Chavan in custody for so long.

“It would be safe to assume that he was thrashed by members of the Pakistani army and the ISI, especially because he was caught on the same night as the surgical strikes… The enemy must have waited for his wounds to heal before returning him," a senior military official was quoted as saying.

Chavan is said to have inadvertently crossed the LoC hours after Indian Army's surgical strike in September last year.

He was returned through the land transit route of Attari-Wagah border.

The BSF had handed him over to the Army which had then taken him to an undisclosed location.

Chavan, posted with 37 Rashtriya Rifles, belongs to Borvihir village in Dhule district of Maharashtra. 

Announcing the handing over of the Indian soldier, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry had issued a statement then and had said, "The decision of the government of Pakistan to return the Indian soldier is based on humanitarian grounds and the commitment to ensure peace and tranquility at the LoC and the Working Boundary." 

(With PTI inputs)