New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) The defence ministry on Tuesday terminated the services of three officials of the Indian Air Force after a high-level probe held them responsible for the March 9 accidental firing of a Brahmos missile that landed in Pakistan.

The Court of Inquiry (CoA) into the incident found that deviation from the SOP by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile.

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Following the incident, the defence ministry described it as "deeply regrettable".

"A BrahMos missile was accidentally fired on March 9. A Court of Inquiry (Col), set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile," an official statement said.

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"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the central government with immediate effect. Termination orders have been served upon the officers on August 23," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)