Indian Army Soldier Drowns: The incident occurred between the Rangpo mining area and Tarkhola, close to Rangpo, as soldiers were undergoing regular rafting training
Tragedy struck a routine Army rafting training exercise in the Teesta River in Sikkim on Monday, when an Indian Army jawan lost his life after the raft he was aboard capsized near the Sikkim–West Bengal border.
The incident occurred between the Rangpo mining area and Tarkhola, close to Rangpo, as soldiers were undergoing regular rafting training from the Bardang area. The deceased has been identified as Lance Naik Rajasekhar.
According to official sources, the rafting boat reportedly got entangled with iron structures which were protruding into the river from a damaged bridge. These metal remnants are believed to be debris left behind after several bridges were washed away during severe flooding in the region a few months ago.
Soon after the accident, the Indian Army launched an immediate rescue operation. Well-known local rescuer Teesta Kanya, Shanti Rai, along with her team, joined the search, significantly intensifying rescue efforts. After a strenuous operation, the body of the missing soldier was recovered from the river, where he had been trapped underwater.
Speaking to the media, Shanti Rai said that past floods had caused major infrastructural damage in the area, leaving submerged iron debris in the river. Over time, these metal structures surfaced, posing serious hazards and likely leading to the rafting accident.
The recovered body was handed over to Rangpo Police and a postmortem examination was conducted to ascertain the exact cause of death. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
The tragic loss has cast a shadow over the Army unit and the local community, once again highlighting the dangers posed by flood-damaged infrastructure in fast-flowing Himalayan rivers.
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