Following criticism on social media about the handling of the mortal remains of military personnel killed in a helicopter crash in Tawang on Friday, the Army said on Sunday that it was an aberration that happened as the remote outpost lacked basic resources.
“Mortal remains of helicopter accident in high altitude area on October 6 recovered, sent wrapped in local resources is an aberration,” the Additional Directorate General of Public Information tweeted.
“Fallen soldiers always given full military honour. Carriage of mortal remains in body bags, wooden boxes, coffins will be ensured,” the Army said in another tweet.
Wrapped in cardboard
An Mi-17 V5 helicopter on an air-maintenance mission crashed, killing five Air Force and two Army personnel on board.
Pictures of the remains wrapped in cardboard went viral on social media and generated much criticism of the treatment meted out to deceased personnel.
One officer said the post where the helicopter crashed was air-maintained and did not have even basic facilities.
“To evacuate the remains from there, personnel there had to use whatever was available,” he said.
The officer said that once the remains of the personnel were airlifted to Guwahati, they were handled as per procedure and sent to the families with full military honours.
One Defence official said it was unfair to think that soldiers at the spot would treat bodies with disrespect. “They did the best for their colleagues,” the official remarked.