Joshimath Chopper crash: No rebel attack, no Army general's family on board: Army tears into fake claims

Parwinder Sandhu

New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) The Indian Army has exposed a misinformation campaign being circulated by Pakistan-based social media accounts, which attempted to exploit the fatal helicopter crash near Joshimath in Uttarakhand by falsely portraying it as a rebel attack on an aircraft carrying the family of Lieutenant General Sanjay Mitra, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command.

The Army clarified that the claims were fabricated and had no factual basis, while six people were killed in the actual crash involving a Trans Bharat Aviation helicopter on Friday. The clarification came after several Pakistan-based social media accounts circulated claims that Lt Gen Mitra and his family were travelling in a helicopter from Badrinath to Dehradun when the aircraft was allegedly hit by rebels near Joshimath. The posts claimed that the helicopter was carrying a pilot and five passengers. In its fact-check, the Army clarified that the actual incident involved a helicopter operated by Trans Bharat Aviation, which crashed while operating from Badrinath to Sahastradhara. It also rejected the insinuation of a rebel attack and the claim that Lt Gen Mitra's family was on board.

The crash claimed the lives of all six people on board, including the pilot, on Friday afternoon. The helicopter went down near Chai village in Chamoli district. According to officials, the aircraft took off from Badrinath for Sahastradhara Heliport at around 1.14 pm. It reportedly lost contact while crossing the Joshimath Valley and was subsequently reported missing near Hathi Parvat.

"All six people on board the chopper that crashed in Joshimath have died, their bodies have been found," Chamoli Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar told the media.

Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) Chief Executive Officer Prateek Jain said the helicopter had departed from Badrinath for Sahastradhara at 1.14 pm. The occupants included pilot Captain Himanshu and five passengers, identified as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K, and H S Natraja. All five passengers were reportedly from Bengaluru. Following reports of the crash, rescue and search teams comprising personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Army, Uttarakhand Police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were mobilised to the area.

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