VIZIANAGARAM: A marine commando from Indian Navy’s elite Special Forces Marine Commando Force (Marcos) died in a failed para jump during routine training exercise at Panagarh in West Bengal on Wednesday. The deceased, identified as Chandaka Govind, belonged to Parla village in Vizianagaram district. After a post-mortem was conducted, his mortal remains reached INS Dega in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.Staff of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) are preparing ground to conduct the 29-year-old’s funeral with government honours in his native on Friday.
According to Navy personnel and Govind’s relatives, he had gone missing while carrying out a routine free fall jump (para jump) from C130J Super Hercules Aircraft on Wednesday morning. After a few minutes, Govind was found in his jumpsuit, helmet and a parachute outside a factory in Barjora. Locals shifted him to Barjora Super Specialty Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
His family said Govind had joined the Indian Navy as a petty officer (rank) in 2012 when he was just 18. He was part of the Marcos at INS Karna, Visakhapatnam. One of the top three marine commandos in India, he was among the five best Marcos, who had participated in the joint Naval Special Forces exercise between India and the United States six months ago.
Govind was part of a team of paratroopers training at Air Force Station Arjan Singh at Panagarh in West Bengal. He was a free fall jump trainer and this was his 162nd free fall jump as a marine commando.
The marine commando belonged to a poor agriculture family. He was the sole breadwinner for his family after his father Ramakrishna died 14 months ago. His family said Govind had been planning to get married after his brother secured a government job. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and all personnel of the Navy extended their heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.