The army versus police showdown on Park Street early on Sunday will not get a quiet burial. This was ensured on Monday with the city police deciding to carry out an independent probe into the alleged drunken brawl involving two armymen.

Chances of an early rapprochement were snuffed out with Park Street police station drafting charges under four sections of the Indian Penal Code — 341 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) — against two officers of the Sixth Engineer Regiment in Kanchrapara.

“Our probe will continue irrespective of the investigation being conducted by the army,” said police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti.

And the police aren’t stopping at that, turning the clock back to push armymen on to the backfoot. “We have even decided to seek legal opinion in connection with the brawl on December 31, 2006, involving army officers on Park Street. If things fall into place, we would like to submit a chargesheet in the case,” declared Chakrabarti.

For now, the focus is on the two armymen who allegedly misbehaved with a woman and then beat up cops and security guards at a Park Street hotel around 1.15am on Sunday. They were taken to the Park Street police station and later handed over to the army.

Fort William is standing by the men in uniform and playing down the fracas. “The entire incident is being blown out of proportion.... An inquiry is on to find out the veracity of the claims,” said group captain R.K. Das, from the Eastern Command.

The police, however, stuck to their story. Preliminary investigations, they said, revealed that one of the drunken officers “was misbehaving” in the nightclub, opening beer bottles and spraying the crowd. When he smashed a few lamp shades, hotel staff stepped in and alerted Park Street police station.

The duo allegedly roughed up some security guards of the star address and even resisted attempts by the cops to lead them away.

At the police station, cops claimed one of the army officers was in a drunken stupor, while the other kept screaming. When two officials from the Sixth Engineers Regiment in Kanchrapara turned up, the officer shouted at them to bring in reinforcements.

“It was only after an officer from the Bengal Area Provost Unit asked the officers to prove their identity did they pipe down,” said an investigating officer.