M A I N   N E W S

Armyman’s body found 45 years after plane crash
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
Not willing to give up the search for the mortal remains of its valiant soldiers killed in an an IAF AN-12 transport aircraft crash near Dhakka glacier almost 45 years ago, an Army search mission has recovered the remains of Hav Jagmail Singh of Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

The Non Commissioned Officer is believed to have died with others when an AN-12 aircraft that left Chandigarh for Leh on a foggy morning in February 1968 appeared to have vanished into thin air.

The aircraft’s disappearance — carrying 98 Army personnel and four crew members — remained a mystery till 2003 when an expedition team chanced upon the wreckage at Dhakka Glacier high in the Chanderbhaga ranges of Lahaul and Spiti.

Hav Jagmail Singh’s identity was established by an identity disk, an insurance policy and a letter from his family that were retrieved from his pocket. His mortal remains are likely to be brought to Chandimandir Military Station tomorrow and will be taken to his native village Meerpur (Rewari) for last rites with full military honours.

The remains of four other personnel, who died in the crash which took place after the pilot lost contact near Rohtang Pass while returning back due to inclement weather, were found in three search missions till 2009. The Army on August 16 embarked upon the fourth expedition to locate the remains of the soldiers and recover the flight data recorder.

The task was assigned to the Dogra Scouts who carried out daunting search at an altitude of 17,000-18,000 feet in an area that is not just avalanche prone but also dotted with innumerable crevasses.