Rich tributes were paid to the nine Siachen bravehearts, who were buried alive in an avalanche, at their native places on Tuesday where their mortal remains have been kept for the people to pay their last respects.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Government Guest House in Mysuru to pay their tribute to Sepoy Mahesha PN, who died in Siachen Avalanche. Several prominent persons, including the Mayor of the city, paid homage to mortal remains of the brave soldier.
In Tamil Nadu, the state Education Minister K.C. Veeramani, along with hundreds of people, gathered at Adukkamparai village in Vellore to pay last respects to Havildar Elumalai.
The mortal remains of the bravehearts were brought to Delhi's Palam Airport from Leh yesterday. Several senior army officers and defence personnel laid wreaths to honour the supreme sacrifice of these men.
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and nine other soldiers of the Madras Regiment were buried under the avalanche on February 3. While Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad was miraculously dug out alive, the bodies of nine others were recovered on February 9.
The others killed in the avalanche were Lance Havildar S Kumar of Kumanan Thozhu village, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, Lance Naik Sudheesh of Monroethuruth village, Kollam district, Kerala and Sepoy Mahesha PN of HD Kote village, Mysore district, Karnataka.
Sepoy Ganesan of Chokkathevan Patti village, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Rama Moorthy of Gudisatana Palli village, Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu, Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed of Parnapalle village, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh and Sepoy (Nursing Assistant) Suryawanshi S V of Maskarwadi village, Satara district, Maharashtra are the others.