Tawang crash: Col killed was to retire soon

He had only 10 days left to retire from service

Colonel Naba Kumar Sarma,one of the 17 who died in the Pawan Hans chopper crash in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday,was posted as Administrative Commandant at the Indian Armys Station HQ at Tawang. He had only 10 days left to retire from service.

An Army spokesman here said Sarma had come to Guwahati to spend time with his family during Rongali Bihu last week and was scheduled to fly back on Monday. He,however,could not get a ticket and boarded the ill-fated Mi-172 on Tuesday.

Sarma,a product of Sainik School,Goalpara,was commissioned in 1978 and belonged to the 19 Garhwal Rifles.

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Colonel Sarma had bought a plot of land just outside Narangi cantonment in Guwahati and had shifted his family to his own house only recently so that he could retire on April 30 and come back here, Lt Col S Phogat,Defence PRO in Guwahati,said. Col Sarma hailed from Assam.

(A PTI report from Itanagar said the passengers who were killed have been identified as Anita,Rishi (minor),Anupam Baruah,Dr Tandon,Dr Asif,R Asif,Zahira,Z Asif,Asif (minor),Abhijit Sharma,A K Saraogi,N Bothra,Col Sarma and T Mustafa. Three crew members who also died in the crash are Captain A K Tiwari,Dixit and maintenance crew Kulkarni. Those who survived the crash include Captain Barun Gupta and passengers Randiv Kumar Chaturvedi,Dorjee Wangdi,Wrishi Bothra,Rajendra Pal and Karishma Saraogi.)

Major Arun Kumar,Officer commanding,Field Park Company at Tawang,lost his wife Anita and son Rishi in the crash. The entire family of Dr Asif,including himself,wife and three others,perished in the crash.

Anupam Baruah was younger brother of former table tennis star Monalisa Baruah and used to play for a local band.

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