`Home they brought warrior dead’: Army technician from Telangana dies in J&K chopper crash

An army technician from Telangana lost his life while two pilots suffered injuries when a chopper crashed during a hard landing in a forested area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

The martyred technician has been identified as Rajanna Sirisilla district of Karimnagar.

Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv was on an operational mission when it developed a technical snag. Pilots later made a hard landing.

Tributes to Anil

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi paid respects to the slain soldier.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi working President K T Rama Rao offered his condolences to the family members of the fallen soldier. “It is sad to lose a young jawan in an accident. We will stand by Anil’s family,” he said

Telangana Congress Party members from Karimnagar Poonam Prabhakar said: “We offer our deepest condolences to the family for his untimely death.”

He was a resident of Mallapur village of Boinipelli mandal of Sirisilla in the Kaminagar parliamentary constituency.

Inquiry ordered

A court of inquiry has been ordered and further details are being ascertained, the Army said in a statement.

"At about 1115 hours on 04 May 2023, an Army Aviation ALH Dhruv helicopter on an operational mission made a precautionary landing on the banks of Marua river in the Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir," the Udhampur-based Northern Command said in a statement.

The pilots had reported a technical fault to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and proceeded for a precautionary landing, it said.

"Due to the undulating ground, undergrowth, and unprepared landing area, the helicopter apparently made a hard landing. Immediate rescue operations were launched and Army rescue teams reached the site," the statement said.

Pilots are stable and the wreckage of the helicopter was found on the banks of the river, said senior superintendent of police, Kishtwar, Khalil Ahmad Poswal.

Crashes in J and K region

This is the fifth incident since 2021.

Previous crashes in the region are detailed here:

· January 25, 2021: Army helicopter Dhruv crash-landed in Kathua district's Lakhanpur near the Punjab border, killing one pilot and injuring another.

· August 3, 2021: Army aviation squadron's Rudra helicopter crashed into Ranjit Sagar Dam on the Kathua-Pathankot border, killing both the pilots Lt Col Abheet Singh and Captain Jayant Joshi. While the body of Singh was retrieved from the dam on August 15, Joshi's mortal remains were fished out on October 17.

· September 21, 2021: Army's Cheetah helicopter crash-landed in dense forests near Patnitop in Udhampur district, killing both the pilots Major Rohit Kumar and Major Anuj Rajput.

· March 11, 2022: Army's Cheetah helicopter crashed in the Gurez sector of north Kashmir's Bandipora district, killing its co-pilot Major Sankalp Yadav, and injuring the pilot, a Lt Col-rank officer.

Inputs from PTI