14 army personnel dead, 12 missing from hills in Manipur :Most of the victims were attached to 107 Indian Territorial Army

Sitaram, a junior commission officer, had been listed as missing after the Thursday early morning landslide :PTI picture

Vivek Chhetri   |   TT  |  Darjeeling   |  02.07.22  : The Darjeeling hills and its neighbouring areas are staring at one of their highest peacetime casualties with at least 14 army personnel from the region having lost their lives in the landslide that hit the under-construction Tupul railway station yard in Noney district of Manipur early on Thursday.

More than a dozen soldiers from the region are missing. Most of the victims and those missing were attached to the 107 Indian Territorial Army (ITA).

Bikram Rai, brother of 42-year-old Sitaram Rai from Rangbul Gorkha busty, said his family was informed about Sitaram’s death on Friday morning.

“He had last come home in February. He had spoken to his family on Wednesday morning,” said Bikram.

Sitaram, a junior commission officer, had been listed as missing after the Thursday early morning landslide.

Although the Darjeeling district administration and the army have not issued any specific list to the media, first-hand information gathered from the ground suggests that at least 14 people from Darjeeling, the Dooars, the Terai and Sikkim have been confirmed dead so far.

Col (retd) Keshab Rai, a former secretary of the Darjeeling Sainik Zilla Board, said: “We are staring at the possibility of the highest peacetime casualty from the region.”

On Friday evening, the family members of Sanjay Oraon from the Kamalpur tea garden did not know how to break the news of his death to his wife who is six months pregnant.

“He had joined the army in 2017 and was first posted in Jammu, followed by Manipur. He got married just one-and-a-half years ago,” a source said.

Anit Thapa, who won the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Sabha elections on Wednesday, expressed his condolences to the deceased and has compiled a list of 12 personnel who have lost their lives from the region.

Sources said that the body of a soldier from Sikkim had also been recovered.

“Tshering Lepcha of Ruklu Kayum, Upper Dzongu in northern Sikkim, was among those who died in the Manipur landslide,” said a source.

Punam Chhetri, wife of Shankar Chhetri from Nagrakata in the Dooars that falls under Jalpaiguri district, said she last spoke to her husband around 9pm on Wednesday.

“A neighbour told me about the tragedy yesterday and throughout the day I tried calling my husband but in vain. I repeatedly called up his immediate boss and it was only late on Friday afternoon that his death was confirmed,” Punam said. Shankar had recently been transferred to Manipur from Darjeeling.

Courtesy & source