All 7 of Army killed in avalanche from Punjab, HP, Jammu

New Delhi, February 12

The mortal remains of the seven Army soldiers killed in an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh on February 6 arrived at their respective home towns on Saturday.

The bodies were flown to their native places in Akhnoor, Kathua and Khour in J&K; Batala and Dhar Kalan (Pathankot) in Punjab and Baijnath (Kangra) and Ghumarwin (Bilaspur) in Himachal after a wreath-laying ceremony at Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam.

Havildar Jugal Kishore and Riflemen Arun Kattal, Akshay Pathania, Vishal Sharma, Rakesh Singh and Ankesh Bhardwaj were from the 19th battalion of the J&K Rifles while Gunner Gurbaj Singh was in the 62 Medium Regiment. The seven soldiers were part of a patrol that was struck by an avalanche at an altitude of 14,500 feet in Kameng sector of Arunachal Pradesh. At Tezpur, the Commander of the 4 Corps, Lt Gen Ravin Khosla, led the officials in paying respects. —