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| A senior Police Official and Army personnel paying their tribute to Mahendra Nath Phukon |
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| Mahendra Nath Phukon's brother's on the day of his cremation |
On 7th February 1968. twenty Two year old Mahendra Nath Phukon was on the plane with 102 other Army and Air Force personnel and was travelling from Chandigarh to Leh. After the commencement of the AN - 12 aircraft the flight lost control and finally crashed near the 6264 meter Chandrabhaga Peak in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul valley. None of the boarders were alive.
The wreckage stayed undiscovered till 35 years and on July 2003 a soldier named Pioneer Beli Ram was the first corpse to be excavated from the deep glacier area.
On 2nd August 2007 an expedition led my Major Nishant Kumar of Dogra Scouts recovered three bodies from the body. One of those three was of Mahendra Nath Phukon, who was still in uniform. His identity card and other documents led to his identification.
His body ensconced in a coffin and draped with the Indian flag reached on 20th August 2007 to Deodhai, his native village in Sivasagar district, which is about 360 kilometers east of Assam's main city Guwahati. The last time Mahendra Nath Phukon was home to attend his elder brother, Tuben Nath Phukon's wedding in the year 1967. For his family it was a dream. His body was cremated on 21st August 2007. Many Government officials also were present to pay their tribute to Mahendra Nath Phukon. Mahendra Nath Phukon's brother's, Tuben Nath Phukon and Durganath Phukon are both retired personnel of the Indian Army.
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