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Army personnel find body of missing mountaineer from 2005 expedition in Uttarakhand
The expedition comprising of personnel from the Indian Army’s base in the border district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand had left to scale the peak to commemorate the Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations during which they came across the body of the mountaineer.
Indian Army personnel who had set out to scale the Satopanth peak in the Gangotri National Park, found the body of a mountaineer on Thursday who is suspected to be part of an expedition of the army sent to scale the same peak in 2005 in which a few mountaineers had gone missing.
The expedition comprising of personnel from the Indian Army’s base in the border district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand had left to scale the peak to commemorate the Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations during which they came across the body of the mountaineer.
Satopanth Peak which is 7075 metres high is the second highest peak in Gangotri National Park situated in the Garhwal Himalayas in the state.
A senior army officer who didn’t wish to be named citing the protocol and is privy to the development said, “The expedition comprised 25 personnel who had gone to scale the peak on September 12.”
“While they were en-route braving rugged terrain and inclement weather, they came across the remains of the body. We believe that it is the mortal remains of one of our mountaineers who was part of another expedition of the Indian Army which had gone to scale the same peak in 2005. During that expedition, some of the mountaineers went missing. We suspect he is one of them,” he said.
The officer said that the expedition members collected the mortal remains and brought it down to Gangotri base on Thursday.
“However, we couldn’t ascertain his identity and handed the body to the local police for the same. Once, it is done, we will hand it over to his family members with all the military honours which he deserves,” said the officer.
Superintendent of Police, Uttarkashi, Manikant Mishra while confirming the development said, “After receiving the body from the army, we had sent it to hospital for post-mortem examination.”
Mishra added, “The police will also conduct a DNA test to ascertain its identity and inform the army authorities accordingly.”
