Mumbai: Family waits for body of soldier who died mysteriously in Sudan

A single phone call has thrown life offkilter for the Dhavle family They were busy with the arrangements for their son Maheshrsquos wedding in March when they received the devastating news of his death while on duty in South SudanThe late Mahesh Dhavle was found lying in a pool of blood with his rifle beside him A highlevel probe is now underway to ascertain exactly what happened that fateful morning in South SudanYet to come to grips with the shock three days on the Dhavles are still not able to grieve Mahesh properly as they are still waiting for a last glimpse of his body The 26yearold was a sepoy with the Indian army attached to the 9 Maratha Light Infantry He was posted on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Bor around 203 km from Juba in South Sudan since November 2014Relatives and friends have put up hoardings in their locality in Kanjurmarg to pay homage to Mahesh PicSameer MarkandeAround 1030 am on Monday morning his younger brother Vishwanath 21 was at his parttime job when he got a phone call informing him that Mahesh had died from a bullet injury Before he could even digest the news the call got disconnected ldquoI was shattered I tried calling the number again but could not get connectedI told my parents and family and since then we have all been in a state of shockrdquo said the civil engineering student Already in mourning the family has stopped preparing food in their Kanjurmarg residence but they are yet to catch a glimpse of his body ldquoIt has been over 48 hours since we received the phone call from South Sudan but so far no official intimation has come to us nor we have got the bodyrdquo Vishwanath said yesterdayThe family was already under considerable pressure as Mahesh was the sole earning member of his family as his father a private driver was recovering from a paralytic stroke ldquoMahesh was the only earning member and his demise has ruined the entire familyrsquos liferdquo said Niwas Shinde a cousinAn accidentSources said that the death was not the result of an attack but seemed to be an accident An official revealed that on the fateful morning the soldiers were busy with their routine when suddenly they heard a gunshot When they rushed to the spot they found Mahesh lying in a pool of blood with his rifle beside him The bullet had penetrated his head killing him on the spotA highlevel probe is on to ascertain the facts of the incident and the report will be submitted to the army headquarters and defence ministry in Delhi A post mortem was conducted at Juba and the incident was reported to the UN headquarters in New YorkThe official added that there was a delay in flying Maheshrsquos body to his family as an NOC had to be obtained from the UN in New York Considering the time difference between India and New York the process is expected to be completed in a couple of daysWaiting for MaheshAn emotional Vishwanath said ldquoI would chat with my brother quite often on WhatsApp The last time we chatted we discussed his marriage He was due to get married on March 25 this year The wedding preparations were going on and we were to go to our native place in Narayangaon in Jinnar taluka Pune My brother was to return from South Sudan in the first week of MarchrdquoMaheshrsquos fiance who is from Pune has now arrived in Mumbai and is also waiting to pay her last respects His friends and relatives meanwhile have begun putting up banners and hoardings in their locality in his honourBorn for the armyMaheshrsquos brother Vishwanath said his brother had always been passionate about the army even when he was a child Mahesh was among the best NCC cadets in junior college and joined the army soon after his second year of BCom studies He had participated in the Republic Day parade three years ago and was previously posted in Jamnagar Gujarat and in Jammu and Kashmir before he was deployed in South Sudan