In the second incident of its kind in recent months, the Army has recovered the mortal remains of a soldier after 21 years in Siachen Glacier. He had fallen into a crevasse there in February 1993 but could not be traced.
The Army had recovered the body of another soldier after 18 years in Siachen Glacier in August after he too had slipped and fell into a gorge. A patrol saw a hand sticking out of snow and the body of Havaldar Gaya Prasad of Rajputana Rifles was dug out and later cremated in his native place in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh.
As regards the latest recovery, officials said on Friday, a patrol of 13 Madras Regiment found the body of Havaldar Tukaram Vithoba Patil of 4 Maratha light Infantry on October 12. He had fallen into a crevasse near Bila post in northern glacier of Siachen on February 27, 1993 while on a patrol to pick up logistics dropped by a helicopter. He remained untraceable despite numerous attempts by the Army and later declared missing dead in action. This enables a soldier to full salary and pension benefits besides other allowances.
Given sub-zero temperatures, the body had not decomposed when the patrol found it recently and was identified by a letter from his family and a medical certificate found in his pocket. Tragically, his younger brother, also a soldier with the 6 Maratha light Infantry, died in an avalanche in 1987 in the Central Glacier. The body remains untraced.
Meanwhile, Havaldar Patil’s body will be sent to his native place in village Vasi Gaon, Sangli in Maharashtra in the next couple of days, officials said. His family had constructed a memorial in the village after Patil went missing. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Termed as the world’s highest battlefield, Indian and Pakistan armies are deployed there since 1984 and have suffered many casualties due to extreme weather conditions and accidents like Patil’s.
More than 850 Indian soldiers have died there till now and most of the casualties took place due to the extreme climate and terrain conditions leading to hypoxia, high altitude pulmonary edema or altitude sickness in mountaineering lexicon, avalanches and crevasses.
Similarly, more than 100 Pakistan soldiers have died every year including more than 125 who were buried in an avalanche two years back. Their bodies are yet to be recovered.