New Delhi: Ending a nearly two-and-a-half-month long search, the body of an Army helicopter co-pilot, which crashed and sank in the Ranjit Sagar dam in August, was recovered from a water body in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. Sunday.
Capt Jayant Joshi’s body was retrieved from the dam at around 2 pm in one of the longest search operations in recent history and was later taken to Pathankot Military Station, a police official said.
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The Rudra helicopter of the Army Aviation Squadron had taken off from Mamoon Military Station near Pathankot and crashed in the lake during routine flight on August 3.
The body of the helicopter’s pilot Lt Col Abhit Singh Bath was retrieved from the dam on 15 August after a massive rescue and search operation.
Jammu-based Defense Spokesperson Lt Col Devendra Anand said that 75 days of continuous efforts by the Indian Army and Navy to recover the body of Capt Joshi have finally succeeded and the body has been recovered from the bottom of the lake. High tech equipment.
He said that due to the vast expanse and depth of the dam, the search and rescue team was using state-of-the-art multi-beam sonar equipment to scan the lake bed and based on the inputs received, remotely operated vehicles with robotic arms were used by professional divers. was started with the exploration of the area.
During a similar search, the body of Captain Joshi was found at a depth of 65-70 meters and an ROV was immediately launched to recover the body. After a local medical examination, the body was taken to Military Hospital Pathankot for further examination, the spokesman said.
He said that the Indian Armed Forces once again displayed their resolve to their soldiers and took all possible action to recover the body of Captain Joshi, a young pilot who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
The spokesperson said that the Indian Army stands shoulder to shoulder with the family of Captain Joshi in this hour of grief.
According to officials, experts belonging to the Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF, SDRF, JK Police, Dam Authority and private firms and all kinds of equipment were deployed from across the country to locate the debris, according to officials. Was. Retrieve crashed helicopter and dead bodies.
Heavy machinery and submarine rescue units were also flown, while special divers from the Navy and Army Special Forces worked closely during the prolonged operation, which was challenging due to the colloidal nature of its waters with almost zero visibility into the reservoir. .
Officials said the agencies concerned have also deployed specialized machines, including multibeam sonar, side scanners, remotely operated vehicles and underwater manipulators, brought in from Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi during the operation.
(with PTI inputs)
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