Bodies of Arunachal CM Khandu, 4 others taken to Tawang
May 5th, 2011 - 12:18 pm ICT by ANIItanagar, May 5 (ANI): The Army on Thursday brought the bodies of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others from Keyla, where the helicopter with five on board crashed.
All the five bodies have been brought to Luguthang and air-lifted to Tawang by an Army helicopter.
Keyla is located at an altitude of 4,500 meters, about six-hour trek on foot from Luguthang Gompa in Tawang district.
“Due to the coordinated efforts of defence personnel, district administration, civil police and civilians the dead bodies could be brought to Tawang within 6-7 hours. The body of Chief Minister shall be straight away taken to Itanagar for giving State Honour as per protocol. However, last rites shall be performed at Tawang,” said Member of Parliament Takam Sanjoy.
Sanjoy, who was heading the Coordination Crisis Management Committee to locate Khandu’s missing chopper, conveyed his heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family members of the Chief Minister and four others.
The body of the Chief Minister will be kept at his official bungalow in Itanagar for the public to pay their last respect to the departed leader.
Khandu’s last rites would be performed at his native village in Tawang on Friday.
After four days of search by over 3,000 security forces and choppers, their bodies and the wreckage were located at Kyela on Wednesday.
The missing Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter that took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. on Saturday lost communication with the ground after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border about 20 to 25 minutes later. The helicopter was scheduled to land in Itanagar at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday.
Apart from Khandu, the people on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. (ANI)
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Tags: army helicopter, as350, babbar, bereaved family members, chief minister, chinese border, civil police, condolence, dead bodies, district administration, keyla, kyela, last rites, malick, management committee, member of parliament, pawan hans, sanjoy, security officer, sela pass