In the Lahaul and Spiti area of Himachal Pradesh, four bodies were found close to the Chandrabhaga range 13 (CB 13) peak, close to Batal, fifty-six years after the tragic Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-12 aircraft crashed at the Rohtang Pass.
Superintendent of Police (SP) for Lahaul and Spiti Mayank Chaudhary confirmed the recovery of four bodies, saying, “We have received the information about and the police and medical team will leave from Kaza now.” Following the post-mortem examination, the deceased will be returned to their relatives.
Beginning on February 7, 1968, an IAF AN-12 aircraft carrying 102 people vanished from sight after taking off from Chandigarh and running into bad weather close to the Rohtang Pass. The victims’ bodies and debris were lost in the snowy terrain for decades.
Later in 2003, an expedition from the ABV Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, found the plane’s wreckage in the south Dhaka glacier. The remnants of a body that was later recognized as belonging to army man Sepoy Beli Ram, who was on the flight, were also discovered by the mountaineers.
It also spurred the Indian Army to launch several expeditions over the years, with the Dogra Scouts leading the way in search operations in 2005, 2006, 2013, and 2019. The terrain was harsh and the conditions dangerous, but by 2019 only five bodies had been found.
However, four more bodies have since been found by the Chandrabhaga Mountain Expedition, giving the nation and the families of the slain newfound hope.