The Sikkim Chief Minister – Prem Singh Tamang-Golay paid homage to the sixteen fallen heroes from Indian Army at Bagdogra, who were killed in a tragic road accident in Sikkim.

According to defence reports, the 16 soldiers of the Indian Army, including three Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) lost their lives when the Army carrying them skidded down a steep slope at Zema in North Sikkim on Friday morning. The ill-fated Army truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy that was travelling from Chatten to Thangu.

The victims are Naib Subedar Chandan Kumar Mishra and Naib Subedar Omkar Singh of 285 Medical regiment, L/Havildar Gopinath Makur, Sepoy Sukha Ram, Havildar Charan Singh and Naik Ravinder Singh Thapa of 26 Mechanised Infantry.

Mishra hailed from Khagaria in Bihar, while Omkar Singh was from Pathankot in Punjab, Makur from Bankura in West Bengal, Ram from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Charan Singh from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Thapa from Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

Naik Vaisakh S and Naik Pramod Singh from the 221 Field Regiment were among the victims, while four soldiers from the 25 Grenadiers who lost their lives in the accident are – L/Naik Bhupendra Singh, Naik Shyam Singh Yadav, Naik Lokesh Kumar and Grenadier Vikas Kumar.

Vaisakh was from Palakkad in Kerala, Pramod Singh hailed from Ara in Bihar, Bhupendra Singh, Yadav and Lokesh Kumar hailed from Uttar Pradesh, while Vikas Kumar was a resident of Fatehabad in Haryana.

Subedar Guman Singh and L/Havildar Arvind Singh from 8 Rajasthan Rifles, L/Naik Somvir Singh of 113 Engineer Regiment and L/Naik Manoj Kumar of 1871 Field Regiment were also among the soldiers who died in the accident.

Guman Singh was a resident of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, while Arvind Singh & Somvir Singh hailed from Haryana and Manoj Kumar from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.