Jaipur: Two days after an Indian army captain went missing during a training drill in the Kaylana lake in Jodhpur, the army called in the Marine Commandos (MARCOS) from Mumbai on Saturday to carry out search operations.
The search operation was resumed on Saturday morning with eight marine commandos or Marcos and several boats being deployed in the lake. Each team was given a particular area of the lake to search in.
Marcos is a special force of the Indian Navy raised in 1987. They are trained to conduct amphibious warfare, counter-terrorism operations and special reconnaissance and hostage rescue.
Captain Ankit Gupta went missing during a training drill of commandos of the army’s special force, 10 Para, on Thursday.
During the training, the commandos were to jump into the Kaylana lake, get into a boat and carry out an attack on the enemy. Three of the commandos on the helicopter completed the exercise but Gupta, 28, did not surface after jumping from the helicopter.
After the incident, the army launched a huge search operation in the lake. Army and police swimmers were pressed into service bit were unable to trace the officer.
Some experts were also called in from Delhi on Friday but were unable to find Gupta.
Gupta had got married in November 2020 and his wife and some relatives arrived in Jodhpur on Friday night.
The depth of the lake is 60 feet but there is about 46 feet of water currently. The bed of the Kaylana lake is not flat but rocky and there is a lot of underwater weeds and vegetation.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
