Gold deal gone wrong, Indian peacekeepers hit back: UN

Gold deal gone wrong, Indian peacekeepers hit back: UN

Wed, Jun 11 02:20 AM

To recover $480 they had paid as part of a gold deal, Indian peacekeepers in Congo illegally detained, physically assaulted and "sexually propositioned" a local gold trader who had sold them counterfeit gold dust, a UN investigation on charges of misconduct in the country's North Kivu province has revealed.

The report prepared by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), however, says it failed to find evidence against the Indian contingent on allegations ranging from gun smuggling to selling rations and fuel to rebel militia.

On one of the charges, the report says there is evidence to prove that three members of an Indian unit based at Nyabiondo purchased "counterfeit gold and unlawfully detained a local resident". It recommends India take appropriate action against the peacekeepers.

The three Army personnel have been identified in the UN report as "JCO Deepak Singh Nayal, Sergeant Suresh Pandurang Bodhak and Lt Col Talum Duby". The Army has also initiated a court of inquiry against the personnel who have since returned home.

While India has dismissed the charges as trivial, the UN report paints a grim picture and says the local gold trader told UN investigators that he was asked to "perform menial tasks in the camp" and was "sexually propositioned" before being released by paying up $480 to Indian peacekeepers.

"The dealer told investigators that whilst in detention he was physically assaulted, was required to perform menial tasks in the camp, and was sexually propositioned by one of the peacekeepers," states the report.

Reconstructing the incident, the UN report says that Nayal and Bodhak bought a small glass bottle of what appeared to be powdered gold from a local dealer at village Tilbua near their camp on an unspecified date in 2006.

But when an appraiser in Goma determined that the "gold" was actually pulverized Gold deal gone wrong, Indian peacekeepers took it out on trader: UN report

gold-coloured metal from a padlock, the two peacekeepers "arrested" the gold dealer and confined him to a dilapidated building within the Indian camp.

"The dealer was subsequently detained at the Indian camp for an undetermined length of time with his release contingent on repayment of the purchase price to the Indian contingent members. The dealer finally collected enough money and was released, allegedly after paying US $480," states the report.

Concluding that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate charges of illegal detention of a local resident, the UN OIOS recommends that "appropriate action" be taken by India against the three personnel.

While the report says that other allegations like gun running and having connections with local militia could not be corroborated, it says that "Indian authorities may wish to consider other avenues of inquiry" as they have the potential to "damage the reputation of the Indian military"