Guard of honour for Home Guard killed in Darj town landslide

SNS, DARJEELING. 23 OCTOBER, 21 : The body of 59-year-old home guard, Suman Thapa, who had been missing in a landslide for more than three days, was finally recovered today.

Thapa was stationed near the SDO bungalow in Darjeeling town, when he was buried in a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall there on the night of October 19.

While the search teams had said that parts of his body were visible around 6:30 last evening, the body could not be pulled out as officials maintained that it was risky during the night time, with a retaining wall falling on top of the body with boulders and mud above it.

The body was finally recovered at 10:40 in the morning today, while it was then taken to the morgue and accorded a guard of honour at the Dali police line. It was then taken to his house at Rangli Rangliat.

"The body of the deceased home guard has been recovered by the joint operation of the NDRF, Fire Department, Police Administration & Civil Defence and local people. It was a four-day operation and done with least mechanical assistance due to locational difficulties. The bereaved family will be sanctioned Rs 2 Lakh as Ex gratia as per the norms of the West Bengal Department of Disaster Management & Relief," Darjeeling DM S Ponnambalam said.

With the home guard's death, two people have died in the landslides in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts caused by heavy downpour recently. Two persons also lost their lives in Sikkim after their car was hit by falling boulders.

Meanwhile, National Highway-10, the important road connecting Sikkim with West Bengal will take at least one week to be reopened for traffic, sources said.

According to PWD officials, more boulders are falling as they are conducting "back cuts," which they said was hampering repair work.