Chopper crash: 5 from Karnataka were on Char Dham Yatra

Deceased friends included CCB inspector Arun Salunke, lawyer Shankare Gowda and three businessmen

BENGALURU/TUMAKURU: Of the six people who died in a helicopter crash in the Joshimath valley of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Friday, five are from Karnataka.

The deceased passengers, including a police inspector attached to Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Bengaluru, were on the Char Dham Yatra. Officials of the Karnataka government are in touch with the Uttarakhand government to bring the bodies back at the earliest.

The five passengers from Karnataka are Arun Salunke, CCB inspector from Aratal village in Athani taluk of Belagavi; Shankare Gowda VB, 38, an advocate, and HS Nataraju, 51, a businessman, both from Huliyurdurga of Kunigal taluk in Tumakuru; Prathap Gowda from Bachalli village in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan, was a businessman based in Bengaluru; and Sudheer K. All five are said to be friends, and had left the city three days ago. The pilot is identified as Captain Himanshu.

As per the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), the helicopter, bearing registration number VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at approximately 1.14pm. It lost communication while flying over Joshimath valley, following which its tracking system also stopped receiving signals.

Following the incident, teams from the Indian Army, Chamoli district administration and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were mobilised for rescue operations. The entire fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt. Ltd., which was operating the ill-fated aircraft, was grounded.

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The Karnataka government stated that the Chief Minister's Office and Relief Commissioner, Government of Karnataka, are coordinating with their counterparts in Uttarakhand to facilitate the transportation of the mortal remains to Karnataka. "The Office of the Resident Commissioner, Karnataka Bhavan, is also in close coordination with Uttarakhand authorities," the government said.

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, "Discussions are under way with Uttarakhand officials to bring the bodies back to Karnataka as soon as possible, and the state government stands in solidarity with the families of the deceased during this time of grief," he said.

Arun Salunke was a 2007-batch police officer serving as inspector with the Bengaluru Police's CCB team. He was residing in Ramamurthy Nagar with his wife and two children. During his career, he had served at several police stations, including Indiranagar and Banaswadi, before being posted to the CCB. Salunke was in the news recently after he filed a complaint against an Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer and three others at Cubbon Park police station for abusing police personnel on duty inside an upscale pub.

HS Nataraju, an entrepreneur from Huliyurdurga, and Shankare Gowda from Akkimaripalya village had become friends with Salunke when the latter was serving as sub-inspector at Huliyurdurga police station in Kunigal taluk. The two friends had joined Salunke and others on a trip to Uttarakhand.

Nataraju ran a poultry shop and owned the Punyakoti Convention Hall in Huliyur. He was also involved in the real estate business. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Shankare Gowda was practising law in Bengaluru.

Kunigal MLA Dr HD Ranganath and Bengaluru Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath expressed condolences over the deaths.