Pathanamthitta: The mortal remains of Malayali soldier Thomas Cheriyan were recovered on Monday, 56 years after his tragic demise in a plane crash. Cheriyan, a native of Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta, was only 22 years old when the AN-12 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed over the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh. The twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft carrying 102 people had gone missing on February 7, 1968, while flying from Chandigarh to Leh. Till date, nine bodies were recovered.
Along with that of Cheriyan, the mortal remains of three more people were recovered on Monday in a joint operation led by the Dogra Scouts of the Indian Army and Tiranga Mountain Rescue. The Indian Army officially confirmed the matter to the Aranmula police, who then informed Cheriyan’s family. Following the completion of necessary formalities, the remains will be handed over to his family, and a funeral will be held to honour his memory.
Two of the other mortal remains, recovered on Monday, are of Malkhan Singh and Sepoy Narayan Singh. The documents retrieved from the remaining body have not conclusively identified the individual. However, an official told PTI that the next of kin details were found.
"In an extraordinary development, the ongoing search and rescue mission to recover the remains of personnel from the AN-12 aircraft, which crashed on Rohtang Pass in 1968, has achieved significant breakthroughs," an official added. Malkhan Singh's identity was confirmed with the help of documents obtained from official records. Sepoy Singh, who hailed from the village of Kolpadi, Chamoli Tehsil in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, worked in the Army Medical Corps.
For decades, the wreckage and remains of the victims remained lost in the icy terrain. It was only in 2003 when mountaineers from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering discovered the wreckage, sparking multiple expeditions over the years by the Indian Army, especially the Dogra Scouts.
The Dogra Scouts have been at the forefront of search operations in 2005, 2006, 2013, and 2019. As the trecherous conditions and unforgiving terrain of the crash site hampered the search, only five bodies of the victims were recovered by 2019. The Chandra Bhaga Mountain Expedition has now recovered four more bodies, bringing renewed hope to the families of the deceased and the nation, officials told PTI.