Sepoy Devender Kumar Soni

Sepoy Devender Kumar Soni belonged to Shahdol village in Madhya Pradesh. He was serving in J & K area in 2017 with 51 RR unit. On 25 Jan 2017, he was trapped under a deadly avalanche while on a patrol in that area.

Sepoy Devender Kumar Soni was one of the 15 soldiers who died in an avalanche at Gurez sector of North Kashmir on 25th Jan 2017. There was heavy snowfall before the accident, resulting in multiple avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chandigarh based Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment had warned of more avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh before the accident took place. The first avalanche hit Gurez on 25 of January morning, in which a family of four civilians had died. The second took place around the same time in Sonmarg, chiefly a tourist area, where an army camp was located.

The avalanche that proved deadly for the army hit the post at Neeru village in the night of 25 Jan 2017. The post at Neeru village was located in Tulail area, 25 Kms away from Gurez town in North Kashmir. The place located along the LOC normally remains cut off by road in winters. The avalanche hit the area few hundred meters away from HQs of 51 RR unit and trapped the soldiers, who were on patrol. The army dispatched the rescue teams and seven soldiers could be rescued but, Sepoy Devender Kumar Soni, who had been buried in snow, could not be saved. He is Survived by his mother Smt Laxmi Soni.