CHANDIGARH: A joint team of the Navy and the Army finally succeeded on 76th day in retrieving the body of Capt Jayant Joshi (27), co-pilot of the ill-fated Rudra attack chopper of the 254 Army aviation squadron of Mamun Cantt in Pathankot that crashed into Ranjit Sagar lake in Jammu and Kashmir on August 3.
Capt Jayant’s father Harish Joshi, who had been camping in Mamun Cantt after the crash to see his son’s face, told TOI that they were informed by the Army authorities that their son’s body was recovered from the Ranjit Sagar lake at around 1.30pm on Sunday. "The body is intact though it has decomposed a bit and is bloated since it has remained in the water body for so long. The Army authorities have brought his body to the Pathankot Military Hospital for the post-mortem where we could finally see him," he added.
After the wreath laying ceremony in Pathankot on Monday, the mortal remains of Capt Jayant will be flown to Delhi. As parents wish to take the final journey of their son from their house at Dwarka in Delhi on Tuesday, the Army authorities may keep the mortal remains in the Delhi Military Hospital on Monday night.
The joint team of the Navy and Army had recovered the body of another pilot of this ill-fated chopper and Amritsar native Lt Col Abheet Singh Batth on August 15 as it was lying a few meters away from the chopper’s wreckage. However, the wreckage of the chopper was finally retrieved on the 37th day from the lake on September 8.
Lt Col Batth and Capt Jayant were on a low level training sortie when their Advanced Light Helicopter-Weapon System Integrated (ALH-WSI) chopper, also called Rudra, crashed into the Ranjit Sagar lake on August 3 morning and went down nearly 80 metres deep inside the water. Since then the search team was in action.
Capt Jayant’s mother, Colonel Jiwan Tara is in the Military Nursing Service(MNS) and has completed over 40 years of service. Capt Jayant took inspiration to join the Army from his mother who is currently posted in eastern sector. Capt Jayant was a product of Army Public School Dhaula Kuan in Delhi and later completed his graduation in electrical and electronics engineering before joining the Army. He was commissioned in the Army in June 2017. Initially, for two years, he was attached with the 9 Sikh Light Infantry and served at the LOC. Thereafter, he joined the aviation branch, completed one year flying training and was then posted to Mamun Cant aviation squadron.
