Mumbai: A day after Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi resigned after another of India's warships met with a mishap, more officers are likely to follow suit, say sources.
The sources say that more Navy officers in the Western Command may quit over the incident, the cause of which is not yet known.
The Navy says that its crew members on board the submarine detected smoke in a chamber during a routine exercise late on Tuesday. Seven of them were airlifted to a naval hospital after they inhaled smoke. However, two personnel were recorded as "unaccounted for". The search for them continues.
The submarine is now docked safely at the Mumbai harbour. Three of its compartments have been found locked from inside. Naval sources say the two missing personnel could be inside any of these. "The aim is to ventilate the submarine, locate the two missing officers, establish the cause of all incidents and to recommend steps for continuing safe operations of submarines," the Navy said in a statement on Thursday.
The government, meanwhile, has sought to quell rumours that Admiral Joshi was pressured to quit.
"I am very sad about the developments. After the Sindhuratna incident, the Navy chief came to me. He was very upset and asked me to accept his resignation immediately," Defence Minister AK Antony said. "I consulted the Prime Minister on his resignation. He (Admiral Joshi) is a fine admiral and a very fine human being," he said.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has, however, slammed the Centre for "neglecting" the Navy.
"We have seen the Navy been neglected. Navy has never got the required budget. The Russian fleet is very old. It should have been out long time back," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said.
INS Sindhuratna is a Kilo-class vessel - a Russian-built diesel-electric submarine - and was 100 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast when the incident happened. The Navy brought the smoke under control in 24 hours.
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