New Delhi: The Indian Army on Saturday paid last respects to the seven men killed in an avalanche in the high altitude area of Kameng sector in Arunachal Pradesh. General Officer Commanding, Gajraj Corps, Lt Gen Ravin Khosla, and other military officials paid their last respects at the Tezpur IAF station. The personnel were part of a patrol at an altitude of 14,500 feet when an avalanche struck them. The area was witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall the last few days, the Army said. After the ceremony, the bodies were sent to Akhnoor, Kathua, Dharkalan, Khour, Bajinath, Kangra, Ghamarwin and Batala — their native places in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Bodies of all the seven individuals were recovered from the avalanche site on February 8. The seven soldiers are Hav Jugal Kishor, Rfn Arun Kattal, Rfn Akshay Pathania, Rfn Vishal Sharma, Rfn Rakesh Singh, Rfn Ankesh Bhardwaj and Gnr (TA) Gurbaj Singh. In May 2020, two Indian Army personnel died as they were trapped in an avalanche in Sikkim. In October 2021, five Indian Navy personnel died in similar way when they were caught in an avalanche at Mount Trishul in Uttarakhand. UNI ASU MR
