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Kolkata, March 30 (). Two Indian Army soldiers were martyred during a routine river crossing exercise at Barrackpore near Kolkata.
GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Lt Gen R.P. Kalita, along with other ranking officers, paid tributes to Naik Lengkholal and Sepoy Aldrin Hemmingthanjwala, The Army has constituted a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to probe the incident that took place on Wednesday.
The tragic incident took place at Sarovar Lake inside Barrackpore Cantonment, about 40 km north of Kolkata. According to an officer in the Eastern Command, river crossings are practiced regularly in the lake. The soldiers are expected to cross the water body with the help of a rope stretched across the lake.
Six soldiers were participating in the exercise on Wednesday morning. While the first three made it through safely, the rope broke while the remaining 3 men were trying to cross. While one soldier was rescued, the other two drowned. Such exercises are usually conducted with casualty aids, which include maintaining enemy post surveillance. This means that the soldiers participating in the exercise are fully prepared for the war. It is a touch and go situation if a soldier loses his grip on the rope, unless he is an expert swimmer.
A source said- Unfortunately, it is like this. The Army needs its personnel to be trained for all situations. We have been part of such exercises. Life jackets are not an option considering the weight of a soldier. Such incidents are unfortunate but rare. There is definitely a need for investigation to know why the rope broke. If someone is responsible then he should be punished.
Naik Lengkholal was from Nagaland, Sepoy Humingthanjwala was from Mizoram. Both were from the Assam Regiment. Their bodies are being sent to their homes after completing necessary formalities including autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.
KC/ANM
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