Sepoy Beli Ram cremated after 35 years
S. P. Sharma
Tribune News Service
Devipur (Akhnoor), August 14
Eightytwo-year-old Tando Devi stood numb in the Devipur migrant camp as the skeletal remains of her soldier son, Beli Ram, were handed over to her by the Army. The remains were flown in today from the Dacca glacier in Himachal Pradesh, where these had been lying for the past 35 years.
It was an unprecedented cremation of a soldier in the history of the armed forces as he was cremated 35 years after death. It was a sheer chance that remains of Beli Ram, who had died in an air crash in February, 1968, were recovered.
Beli Ram's wife Giano Devi sat with folded hands besides the remains, wrapped in the Tricolour, as a sea of humanity turned up at their mud house in the village to pay last respects.
The body was flown to Pathankot from Manali in an IAF aircraft this morning and brought here in a Chetak helicopter of the Army in the afternoon.
He was cremated with full military honours and given a gun salute by jawans of the Assam Rifles, when the pyre was lit by his nephew. Besides a large number of people, senior Army officers were also present at the cremation.
The people lined up on both sides of the road as the remains were brought here from Akhnoor, where the GOC of the 10th Infantry Div, Maj-GenTej Sapru, laid a wreath on the body.
Ms Tando Devi several times tried to have a glimpse of her son's remains by lifting the plastic sheet in which these were wrapped. Beli Ram's sisters wept bitterly and placed a rakhi on his body, wrapped in bandages when it was brought out of the plastic sheet.
A village elder, Mr Baldev Singh, said no one had ever thought that the body of Beli Ram would be recovered, 35 years after the crash. "It is a miracle for all of us." he said.
He was thankful to the Army, which gave respect to the dead soldier and brought his body home from an inaccessible mountain glacier.
The remains were scheduled to reach here at 11 am, but the helicopter landed about 1 pm as it could not take off from Manali due to bad weather.
Beli Ram had died when the AN-12, in which he was flying from Leh to Chandigarh, crashed on February 7, 1968, on the south Dakka glacier in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
There were 102 soldiers and crew members on the flight. So far only the skeletal remains of Beli Ram have been found by trekkers of the Mountaineering Institute at Manali.
Pratibha Chauhan adds from Manali: "Except for Beli Ram's body, we could not identify any other person as only pieces of bones and flesh, which have become leathery and bloated after remaining buried under snow for years, could be recovered," said Colonel Chauhan, Director of the Mountaineering Institute.
"Though Army personnel in the search team have returned, the Air Force personnel are expected back here tomorrow," said Colonel Chauhan, who has been assisting in the search operation. He added that Dogra Scouts from the Sumdo battalion have returned to their location in Kinnaur.
He said the presence of Lance Naik Kamal Singh Bhandari in the aircraft could be established as his bed holding was found intact.
"Though the Army is trying to verify if the name of Lance Naik Bhandari figures in the manifest of the persons on board the aircraft, but from the documents found, he hails from Chamoli district in Garhwal and was in the Army Ordinance Corps.
A joint team of the Army and the Air Force had for the past three days been undertaking Operation Salvage at the 16,500 feet high Dacca glacier to search for the remains of persons on board the aircraft. The Army, after searching for the missing aircraft, had suspended the operation six months after the crash, said Army sources.
The recent search was carried out at the Dacca glacier, as the aircraft had crashed after hitting the Chander Bhaga-13 peak. The operation was undertaken after a team of climbers from the Mountaineering Institute chanced upon the remains of Beli Ram, whose identity could be established from his service documents.
Following this, the Army decided to launch an operation to search for the remains of others and extricate the body of Beli Ram.
It is, however, not certain whether the search operation would be wound up, as the defence authorities might wish to lift the wreckage of the aircraft from the glacier.
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