BENGALURU: Family members five people from Karnataka, who died in the Uttarakhand helicopter tragedy, have gone to Uttarakhand to identify the deceased. Officials have started DNA identification and have called family members to Uttarakhand. Only after this process, they will identify and hand over the bodies to the family members.
Among those who died in the helicopter crash are Bengaluru CCB police inspector Arun Salunke, lawyer V B Shankare Gowda, Prathapa B G, Sudheer K and H S Nataraj, apart from the helicopter pilot Himanshu. Two days ago, the five had left for Sahastradhara in Uttarakhand. Around noon on Friday, the helicopter lost control near Joshimath valley due to bad weather and crashed between valleys. The bodies have been burnt to the extent that they cannot be identified.
Inspector Arun Salunke who was living in Ramamurthy Nagar in Bengaluru and originally from Athani in Belagavi, was a 2007 batch officer. He worked as PSI in Indiranagar police station and later as Inspector at Banaswadi police station. Salunke, who had recently been transferred to the CCB, was identified as an efficient officer. He leaves behind his wife and two children.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said, “Yesterday, we got news of the death of our staff and it has brought us pain. Arun Salunke was working in the CCB Intelligence division and the news of his death has saddened us. He was working in the Technical Wing and his death is a big loss for our department”.
“Earlier, another officer, Ravi, had died in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh. Both officers were of the same batch and the death of both officers has brought lot of pain to us. We stand with their family members. I am in contact with the ADGP there and after shifting of the bodies, work of identifying will happen. We are in continuous contact with officials there and after identification, we will immediately bring the bodies here”, Seemanh Kumar Singh said.
Sandeep, a cousin of civil engineer Prathapa Gowda, said, “Pratap had gone with friends on Wednesday. We came to know about the helicopter crash after seeing reports in the media at 5 pm. Pratap is originally from Bachehalli in Sakleshpur, Hassan and he has two sons. We have not informed his wife and children about his death, we have told them that he is seriously injured in the incident”.
“His father was doing tailoring work, and Prathapa Gowda was earning well. Inspector Arun Salunke was a friend of Pratap. His 10-year-old son Kunal, who is Class 7, has gone to Uttarakhand along with his brother-in-law and friend for the DNA match. Only three have been told to come, so the three went by a morning flight. Pratap was also ready to enter politics in future”, Sandeep said.
Another deceased, Sudheer, was a lawyer by profession and living in Nagarabhavi. A pall of gloom had descended over the residence and he is survived by his wife and two children. Sudheer’s friends had gathered at he Nagarabhavi house and consoled family members.
Sudheer is originally from Tyavanagi in Channagiri taluk of Davanagere district and was the son of retired Justice K H Malleshappa and son-in-law of Dr Ravindranath of famous eye specialist Drishti Hospital in Davanagere city. Sudhir used visit his native village during festivals and was expected to visit again for a relative’s marriage on Sunday.
