IT Correspondent
Mumbai, May 30:
A First Investigation Report (FIR) has been registered against the driver Ahmed Shah on charges of negligent driving in a case in which 7 soldiers died and 19 others were injured when a bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge (Shyok river) in the Turtuk sector in Ladakh on Friday.
The FIR has been registered under sections 279 (rash or negligent driving), 337 (causing hurt by an act that endangers human life), and 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at Nubra police station.
The soldiers were travelling in a privately hired bus from the transit camp at Partapur to a forward location that comes under Sub Sector Hanif. During transit, the bus skidded off the road and fell into the Shyok river. The bus driver jumped out of the bus seconds before the vehicle fell to a depth of around 50-60 feet. All the occupants sustained injuries, and seven of them were declared dead.
According to police Inspector Stanzin Dorje of Nubra police station prima facie, it appeared to be a case of driver’s negligence. The rescue operation was carried out by the Indian Army with the help of Leh Police and locals. Initially, the soldiers were taken to the 403 Field Hospital at Partapur. Surgical teams were brought from Leh to Partapur. Later, the 19 soldiers who had sustained injuries were flown to Western Command Hospital in Chandi Mandir Chandigarh). The condition of the injured soldiers was stable, official sources said.
The Soldiers who lost their lives in the accident were: Subedar Shinde Vijayrao (Satara, Maharashtra), Naib Subedar Gurudayal Sahu(Betul, Madhya Pradesh), Naik Sandeep Pal ( Hazaribagh, Jharkhand), Naik Ramanuj Kumar(Patna, Bihar), Naik Jadhav Prashant Shivaji (Kolhapur, Maharashtra) and Lance Naik Bappaditya Khutia (West Medinipur, West Bengal).
In the meanwhile a solemn wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre (MLIRC) at Belgaum (Karnataka) on Sunday, to pay tribute to its brave heart Naik Jadhav Prashant Shivaji of 22 Maratha Light Infantry, whose mortal remains were flown in from New Delhi for last rituals at his native place, Basarge, Gadhinglaj in Kolhapur on Sunday.
Wreaths were placed at MLIRC, by Brigadier Joydeep Mukharji, on behalf of Major General K Narayanan, Col. of the Regiment and General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff.