Bodies of 3 army labor force recovered in Ladakh : Buried under snow for months

New Delhi The bodies of three of the four army labor force who failed after their mountaineering passage platoon at a height of over 18,300 bases in Ladakh have been recovered amid grueling conditions. Havildar Rohit Kumar, Havildar Thakur Bahadur Ale, and Naik Gautam Rajbanshi were trapped deep within a crevasse large volumes of snow for the once nearly nine months.

A defense source recovered. The body of Lance Naik Stanzin Targais was recovered . 38- member passage platoon from the Gulmarg- grounded High Altitude Warfare School( HAWS), an elite training institution under the Army, . Kun in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The passage started on October 1, and the platoon hoped to conquer the peak by October 13, sources in the defense establishment said.

While fixing ropes on a snow wall, the platoon was struck by a unforeseen avalanche on October 8 at a height of over 18,300 bases between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on the Fariabad Glacier. Four members were caught in the deadly slide, ” the source said. The passage platoon made all trials to deliver those who fell in the crevasse and got buried under a large volume of snow and “ laid down their lives in true spirit of adventure and hunt, ” the sources said.

But, in the Army’s spirit of ‘ Leaving No Man Behind ’, a platoon of perambulators of the HAWS also shouldered a heroic charge to recover the mortal remains of their fallen comrades, they said.

The charge was named in honor of the missing dogfaces, and the deliverance passage comported of 88 expert perambulators. The sources said a roadhead camp was established about 40 km suddenly of Khumbathang for the deposit of technical mountaineering and deliverance outfit, special apparel, survival accoutrements , canopies, and refections. Two copters were also placed on buttress to ferry the mortal remains of the bravehearts and for the evacuation of the deliverance platoon, if demanded.

They said a base camp was established at a distance of around 13 km from the roadhead at a height of about 14,790 bases.Maj.Gen. Bruce Fernandez, Commandant HAWS, posted himself at the base camp, overseeing the deliverance sweats. S.S. Shekhawat, the Deputy Commandant of HAWS, tête-à-tête led the hunt operation, emphasizing the charge’s significance.

The deliverance platoon faced redoubtable challenges at an altitude of 18,300 bases. Equipped with satellite phones, special canopies, and advanced tools and supported by devoted copters posted 20 km down, every palladium was taken to insure the safety of the hunt party, ” a defense source said. The bodies of the three labor force have been handed over to their families with “ full military honors, ” bringing check for the loved bones who had awaited to bid the final farewell to them, they said. participating details about the recovery of the bodies, the sources said the first significant advance during the operation came when the mortal remains of Havildar Kumar( Dogra Scouts) were set up at about 30 bases of snow and ice in the crevasse on July 4.

With renewed resoluteness, the platoon, daring challenges posed by extremities of cold and terrain, went 10 bases deeper in the crevasse, where the mortal remains of Havildar Ale( Gorkha Rifles) were recovered on July 7. Search continued for the mortal remains of Naik Rajbanshi( Assam Regiment), as the platoon’s resoluteness to bring their comrades home remained unvarying, they said.

The charge’s end was eventually fulfilled on July 8, as the bodies of the three dogfaces were recovered and no platoon member was left before, the sources added. Shekhawat is no foreigner to redoubtable challenges; he has climbedMt. Everest three times and been awarded the Kirti Chakra for one of the toughest operations conducted by the Indian Army. ‘ Operation RTG ’ as the most demanding charge of his life. “ Dug for nine days straight, 10 – 12 hours every day at 18,700 bases, ” he was quoted as saying by a defense source. . The challenging trouble, both physically and mentally, tested the adaptability of the entire platoon, ” Shekhawat said.