Thu Oct 03 18:41:31 UTC 2024: ## Sepoy Narayan Singh’s Remains Found After 56 Years, Wife’s Hope Fulfilled Posthumously
**Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand:** After 56 years of waiting, the remains of Sepoy Narayan Singh, missing in a 1968 plane crash, have been recovered from the Himalayas. The news has brought closure to a long-held hope, especially for Singh’s widow Basanti Devi, who had waited for him until her death in 2011.
Singh, a member of the Army Medical Corps, was one of 102 personnel on board an Indian Air Force AN-12 transport plane that crashed near Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh on February 7, 1968. While the family received an official letter confirming his disappearance, Devi refused to believe he was dead, constantly holding onto the hope of his return.
“She always insisted, ‘If he is dead, where is the body?’” said her son, Jayvir Singh Bisht, the village head of Kolpuri. Devi, despite remarrying in 1973, never stopped thinking about her first husband. The uncertainty fueled her hope, and she never received any compensation for his presumed death, further solidifying her belief that he was alive.
The wreckage of the plane was discovered in 2003, and subsequent expeditions by the Indian Army have recovered several bodies over the years. This week, the Army’s Dogra Scouts recovered four bodies from the Dhaka glacier, including Singh’s. His identification was confirmed through his paybook, which contained his financial and medical records, including his wife’s name.
Singh’s body is expected to reach his village near Rudraprayag on Thursday, 13 years after his wife’s death. “He may not have been my biological father, but I will perform all rituals for him, as my mother waited for him her entire life,” concluded Bisht.
The discovery of Singh’s remains after 56 years has brought a bittersweet end to a long saga of hope and heartbreak. While it may have been too late for his wife, the news offers a sense of closure for the family, allowing them to finally lay their loved one to rest.
First Piper 