Choppers to recover bodies of 6 Armymen

The Army today sent helicopters to Chaukhamba in the Garhwal hills to recover the bodies of a young officer and five jawans who died in a mountaineering accident on July 29. The expedition, of the Army Air Defence corps, was flagged off by Army Chief Gen J J Singh on July 27.

The Army said that the dead personnel were identified as Lt Sandeep Pradhan, Lance Havildar Rawat, Havildar Ashok Kumar, Havildar Srinivasa, Lance Naik Ugendra Kumar and Gunner Malay Sinha.

On July 27, two officers and five jawans from the team made a summit attempt and returned to the base camp on the same day. Two days later, two officers and seven jawans set out, but six fell to their deaths on the way down.