The body of Army officer Captain Nirmal Sivarajan, 32, a native of Mamangalam in Kochi, who was undergoing a Chinese Course at Army Education Corps Centre at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, was flown into Kochi from Jabalpur on Friday. He was caught in a flash flood while travelling from Jabalpur to Pachmarhi hill station on August 15.
Captain Nirmal Sivarajan, Trainee of the Center (AEC), was a good sportsman and a jovial, friendly person. He was taking training in Pachmarhi's AEC for about one and a half years. After 5 months, his training was about to be completed in December. Captain Nirmal got married only three months ago to Lieutenant Gopichandra from Thiruvananthapuram.
His wife Lt. Gopichandra lives in Jabalpur. On August 13, he went to Jabalpur to meet his wife. He was to reach the center at 6 am on August 16, he did not reach the centre. In such a situation, Lieutenant Gopichandra was contacted and it was found that he had left for Pachmarhi on August 15 by car at around 3.30 pm.
Later, his car was found in the river on Thursday morning. It is being told that at 8pm, his wife had last spoken on his mobile. There is a direct way to reach Pachmarhi from Jabalpur via Bankhedi, Pipariya, but the bridge has been damaged due to excessive rain. In such a situation, he took a different route to Pachmarhi via Bari, Bareilly, Nasirabad road. He had also mentioned this to his wife.
When the trainee Captain did not reach Pachmarhi, a search was started under SDOP Madan Mohan Samar, searching by boat, divers of Home Guard and Army personnel first found the car in the river on Wednesday and then on Thursday, the body of the Captain was found on the river bank. The body was stuck in a tree.