Sikkim landslide: Lt. Col., his retired IAF officer wife among six missing

Rescue operations being conducted by Army teams following the landslides in northern Sikkim on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

GUWAHATI: A Lieutenant Colonel and his retired Squadron Leader wife are among six individuals still missing after a landslide struck a military camp in northern Sikkim’s Chhaten on Sunday evening (June 1, 2025).

The missing are Lt Col. Pritpal Singh Sandhu, retired Indian Air Force officer Aarti Sandhu, their daughter Amayra Sandhu, Subedar Dharamveer, Naik Sunilal Muchachary, and Sepoy Sainudheen P.K.

“Search operations continue with urgency to locate the six individuals still missing. The Army has deployed specialised teams and engineering equipment, but the ongoing efforts have been significantly hampered by extremely bad weather, unstable ground, and the challenging high-altitude terrain,” a Defence Ministry statement said on Wednesday (June 4, 2025).

Guwahati-based Defence spokesperson, Lt Col. Mahendra Rawat, said Army teams have been defying extreme weather conditions and a hazardous terrain to assist locals and stranded tourists.

“Lachen village, the main hub for tourism in the region, has been completely cut off. The Army has established foot connectivity to the village and reached out to 113 stranded tourists, who will be evacuated soon,” he said.

Thirty tourists, including some foreign nationals, were airlifted by military helicopters after the weather eased on June 3.

Landslides and rockfalls have been the major killers since the early monsoon rains began battering all eight northeastern States from the last week of May. Landslides claimed more than 70% of the 47 human lives claimed by rain-induced disasters across the region.

Over 800 incidents of landslides have been recorded across the region, with Mizoram accounting for 644 of them, followed by Nagaland with 93. Landslides, landslips, and rockfalls have cut off many strategic locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

On the brighter side, the number of people affected by floods in Assam decreased by 16,008 from 6,33,144 recorded on Tuesday.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority’s morning flood bulletin on Wednesday (June 4, 2025) 6,17,136 people remain affected by floods across 20 districts. The number of districts hit on Tuesday was 21.

Published - June 04, 2025 12:35 pm IST