The parents and relatives of Sepoy Sandip Kumar Shetty, who died in an avalanche at Gurez Valley near Jammu, have been waiting for the arrival of his mortal remains. Owing to bad weather at the base camp, the body has not yet been shifted.
The Indian Army authorities informed the soldier’s parents, Puttaraju and Gangamma, of the delay in bringing the body to the hometown.
Sandip Kumar Shetty (28), attached to Indian Army’s 51 Rashtriya Rifles, was stuck in the avalanche on Wednesday. His body was traced on Friday. He had been with the Army for the last eight years. As the news of his death spread, his relatives and friends gathered at his house at Devihalli by Friday evening. His death has come as a shock to the family that was engaged in preparations for his marriage.
H.D. Revanna, MLA, Holenarasipur, and his son, Prajwal Revanna, met the family members. Mr. Revanna had felicitated Sandip Kumar at a religious event in the village recently.
When Hassan Tahsildar R.B. Shivashankarappa reached the village to meet the family members, the villagers gheraoed him and took him to task alleging that the district administration had delayed in responding to the tragic incident. The officers delayed getting an update from the Army about the soldier’s plight and also did not bother to make arrangements for the immediate transportation of the body, the villagers maintained. The officer said the State government officials at Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi were in contact with the Army authorities.
D.B. Manjunath, a relative of the soldier, told The Hindu, “An army official, a colleague of Sandip Kumar, told us over the phone that the body could not be shifted today owing to bad weather. It may be shifted to Srinagar tomorrow.”
