15 Corps GOC Lt Gen JS Sandhu pays tribute to Sepoy Moorthy N at Badamibagh Cantonment in Srinagar on Friday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 22

The Army on Friday paid tributes to a soldier who had gone missing from a forward post in remote Gurez sector last month and was later found dead.The body of Sepoy Moorthy N, 33, was found on December 19 and transported to Badamibagh Cantonment in Srinagar from where it was airlifted to his home.He had gone missing on December 11 during heavy snowfall along with two other soldiers Lance Naik Marigendra Nath Pramanik and Sepoy Shiv Singh, whose bodies were sent home on Wednesday this week.At the ceremonial farewell held at Badamibagh Cantonment, which houses the headquarters of 15 Corps, senior army officers led by Corps Commander Lt Gen JS Sandhu paid tributes to the soldier.The sepoy, who was part of an Operational Team which was serving in the formidable heights along the Line of Control in the Gurez sector, had got swept away in a snow slide. The Army said concerted efforts of the specially equipped Avalanche Rescue Teams led to the recovery of his body on Tuesday this week.The soldier was had donned the uniform in 2004 and hailed from Nathipatti village in Tamil Nadu’s Karur district. He is survived by his wife and two sons.Two soldiers injured in mine blast in Poonch Rajouri: Two soldiers of Naga unit were injured seriously when one of them reportedy stepped on an abandoned mine in a forward location in Poonch district on Friday. Sources said the soldiers were patrolling a forward location in the Gulpur sector when an abandoned mine blasted off under the foot of one of the soldiers. The injured have been identified as Sepoy W Thung and Sepoy Rakesh. The soldiers, who have splinter injuries in their eyes and on the face, were immediately taken to the Army hospital in Poonch and later airlifted to Command hospital at Udhampur. OC