A pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Uttarakhand met with a catastrophic end on Friday as a helicopter flying from Badrinath to Rishikesh crashed near Jyotirmath, popularly known as Joshimath, in Chamoli district. The fatal crash claimed the lives of all six individuals on board, including the pilot and five close friends who were on their return journey home. Search and rescue personnel recovered all six bodies from the rugged crash site, and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been assigned to probe the circumstances surrounding the disaster. Authorities confirmed that apart from the operating pilot, all five passengers were residents of Bengaluru in Karnataka.
Bengaluru Police Inspector Among the Pilgrims Who Died in Chamoli
The tragedy hit the Karnataka state police department particularly hard with the demise of 44-year-old Inspector Arun Salunke, who was serving in the Central Crime Branch in Bengaluru. On August 28, Salunke had posted a poignant tribute on Instagram mourning the untimely demise of a fellow colleague from the CCB wing, stating that he had departed far too soon. In a harrowing twist of fate, just over a month later, Salunke himself met an untimely end alongside four close companions as they flew back from Badrinath temple.
Salunke was an officer from the 2007 batch of the Karnataka police force, hailing originally from Aratal village located in Athani taluk of Belagavi district. Before donning the uniform, he completed his higher education at the M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bengaluru. Prior to his posting as an inspector in the Central Crime Branch, his service record included tenures at the Ulsoor police station as well as the Criminal Investigation Department. Dasappa, the owner of the rented apartment where Salunke lived, remembered him as an approachable and warm person who maintained cordial ties with neighbors. Another resident, Gajendra, recalled meeting him frequently during morning walks, noting that the inspector routinely set out for duty around 10 am and returned home close to 10 pm.
Group of Friends on a Three-Day Pilgrimage Were Due Home on Friday
Officials from Uttarakhand identified the other four deceased passengers as 51-year-old H S Nataraj, 41-year-old Prathap Ningaraju, 49-year-old Sudhir K, and 39-year-old Shankar Gowda. All four individuals lived in Bengaluru and came from varied professional walks of life. Nataraj, who was from Huliyurdurga in Tumakuru district, headed the Vidya Bharati educational institution. Shankar Gowda worked as an advocate, while Prathap Ningaraju, originally from Bachanahalli in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district, was engaged in civil construction contracting.
Prathap had migrated to Bengaluru around 15 years ago and resided in the Thanisandra area with his wife and two young school-going sons, who are studying in Class 7 and Class 3. Prathap's brother-in-law Prajwal, a coffee planter, shared that the five companions had departed for their Char Dham yatra only three days prior. The families were anticipating their return on Friday evening, waiting to welcome them back, when news of the devastating crash arrived instead.
Last Phone Call From the Helicopter Described Thick Fog and Bitter Cold
For Nagesh, an entrepreneur based in Huliyurdurga and a lifelong friend of Nataraj, the tragedy feels painfully fresh because of a phone conversation that took place right before the journey turned fatal. Nagesh shared that Nataraj had phoned him at around 11 am on Friday directly from inside the cabin of the helicopter. Nataraj explained during the call that the group had already boarded the aircraft and was waiting for inclement weather to clear up.
According to Nagesh, the pilot had informed the passengers that dense fog blanketed the area, making it necessary to hold off until visibility improved. When asked about conditions on the ground, Nataraj mentioned that it was bitterly cold. That fleeting update from inside the waiting chopper turned out to be the final conversation between the friends before the fatal crash unfolded near the treacherous slopes of Joshimath.
