THE SEMI FOSSILIZED body of an Indian soldier, who was killed in a plane crash long ago in 1968 and was missing since then, was recovered by troopers from a sub-Himalayan peak. The body, identified as one Phukan, was flown at least 2500 kilometer, to be hand over to his family at Deodhai village in Assam’s Sivsagar district. Deodhai village is a tiny hamlet near Amguri, situated approximately 375 Kilometer away from State’s capital city of Guwahati. An army expedition team led by Major Nishant Kumar of Dogra Scouts recovered three bodies along with Phukan’s, on August 11. The thumbnail shows the remains of the aircraft found at the site

All bodies recovered from the site were flown to Chandigarh air base immediately. All were missing since February 7, 1968 after an IAF plane, that they were travelling in, crashed near the 20,500-foot high Chandrabhaga peak in Himachal Pradesh. The IAF plane, an AN-12, had taken off from Chandigarh with 102 people on board to Leh in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. So far, the bodies of only four of the 102 Indian Army and IAF personnel have been recovered. First was recovered in July 2003. He was identified later as soldier Beli Ram. The mortal remains of the three soldiers were recovered from a height of 17,500 feet in a valley in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

Phukan’s body was identified from records and photographs. Phukan hailed from Deodhai village of Amguri. According to family member, “The body is intact and not decomposed and was still in uniform”. Phukan’s body, wrapped in the Indian flag, was given to his family on Tuesday. Phukan had left behind three brothers Tuben, Durganath and Jiten and their families. On Tuesday his body was cremated in his native village with full military honours. Several thousands of local people, representatives from district police and civil authority, military officers and Jawans were present at the cremation. Earlier, a symbolic cremation had been done in 1968 immediately after family members were informed about the crash. On Monday the body was flown to Dibrugarh and then brought to Sivsagar Civil Hospital’s Morgue to preserve for the night. Tuesday morning, army personal brought it to Deodhai village and arranged for the cremation.