Siachen braveheart Hanamanthappa dead

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 11

Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa passed away at Army's Research and Referral Hospital on Thursday. His condition had worsened with multiple-organ dysfunction and had slipped into a deeper state of coma.

“Lance Naik Hanamanthappa is no more. He breathed his last at 11.45 am today,” a senior army official said.

The 33-year-old soldier of the 19th Battalion of Madras Regiment is survived by his wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal and two-year-old daughter Netra Koppad.

A resident of Betadur village in Dharwad district of Karnataka, Hanamanthappa had joined the army 13 years back.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "He leaves us sad & devastated. RIP Lance Naik Hanumanthappa. The soldier in you remains immortal. Proud that martyrs like you served India."

Hanamanthappa's mortal remains were kept at Brar Square, where Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the three Service Chiefs, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a host of military officers among others paid homage by placing wreaths at a solemn ceremony.

Hanamanthappa's family, including wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal, sat in stoic silence through the sombre proceedings with wails of their two-year-old daughter Netra piercing the silence.

Defence Ministry officials said Koppad's remains will be flown to Karnataka tonight and cremation would take place in Hubli tomorrow before sunset.

Karnataka ministers HK Patil and Vinay Kulkarni will receive the coffin carrying the body of Hanamanthappa. Chief Minister Siddhramaiah will pay his last respect to the soldier tomorrow.

The condition of Hanamanthappa, who was admitted to Army Research and Referral Hospital here on February 9, had deteriorated yesterday.

Dubbed as the 'miracle man', the soldier had managed to stay alive for six days buried under the snow after an avalanche struck their post on February 3.

His condition was reviewed by a team of doctors comprising critical care specialists, the HoD Dept of Medicine, a senior nephrologist, a senior neurologist of the army hospital and a panel of experts from AIIMS yesterday.

A health bulletin released by the Army earlier had said, “His circulatory shock is now refractory to all drugs in maximum permissible doses and his kidneys remained non-functional.”

His pneumonia had worsened and the blood clotting disorder showed no sign of reversal despite blood component support. 

Also, he was on maximal life support with aggressive ventilation and dialysis.

Hanamanthappa served in difficult and challenging areas for 10 out of 13 years of his total service.

His postings include Jammu and Kashmir from 2003 to 2006, where he was actively involved in counter-insurgency operations.

He again volunteered to serve with the 54 Rashtriya Rifles (Madras) in Jammu and Kashmir from 2008 to 2010, and later in the northeast from 2010 to 2012 where he took part in operations against militants.

He was serving in the Siachen Glacier from since August 2015. — With inputs from agencies