The bodies of 11 soldiers from north Bengal who were killed in the Manipur landslide arrived at Bagdogra airport on Saturday.

The family of another soldier, from Bongaon in North 24-Parganas, was on Saturday informed by the army about his death in the landslide that hit an under-construction railway station yard at Tupul on Noney district early on Thursday.

Six bodies arrived at Bagdogra airport around 10 on Saturday morning while the remaining came in the afternoon.

Among the 11 soldiers, all attached to various wings of the Indian Territorial Army, nine were from Darjeeling district while the other two were from Jalpaiguri district and neighbouring Sikkim.

The deceased have been identified as Milan Tamang of Rohini Gaon in Kurseong, Diwankar Thapa of Maryboong in Darjeeling, Benjamin of Teesta Valley under Darjeeling, Marcus Gurung of Singamari in Darjeeling, Sitaram Rai of Rangbul in Darjeeling, Bishal Chhetri of Mirik, Bedhyan Rai of Gaurishankar tea estate in Kurseong, Bhupen Rai of the Happy Valley tea estate in Darjeeling, Ladup Tamang from the Nagri tea estate in Darjeeling, Shankar Chhetri of Kherkata Busty at Banarhat in Jalpaiguri and Tshering Lepcha of Kayam village in Mangan district of Sikkim.

Army jawans carry mortal remains of one of the deceased soldiers. Main Uddin Chisti

The coffins were taken to the army base hospital in Bengdubi, around 5km away. Officers of the Indian Army, the families of the deceased, representatives of different political parties and the general public paid their last respects to the soldiers.

Later, the bodies were sent to their respective villages in vehicles, accompanied by army personnel.

“It is a huge loss for the families. I have appealed to all residents across the hills to commemorate the soldiers and pay homage to them by lighting candles in every household,” said Anit Thapa, the president of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha that has won the recent Gorkhaland Territorial Administration elections.

Sources said Thapa, who was in Bengdubi on Saturday, has instructed his party workers to refrain from celebrating the poll victory.

When soldier Shankar Chhetri’s body reached his native village, Jalpaiguri’s Kherkata Busty, armymen who were part of the last journey gave a gun salute to him. Hundreds of people, along with Bengal minister Bulu Chik Baraik and Union minister John Barla, paid homage to him. His last rites were conducted at a crematorium on the banks of the Jaldhaka river.

In Bongaon on Saturday morning, Jaya Banerjee received a call from an army official in Manipur informing her about the death of her husband, Havildar Santu Banerjee.

Santu, 38, a resident of Barrackpore village, had joined the 107 infantry battalion of the Gorkha Rifles 15 years ago. He had last come home in April.

Santu had called up Jaya on Wednesday night before going to sleep, a few hours before the landslide.

“He was a brave man and joining the army was his passion. He used to tell me to be brave. But I never realised he was teaching me to be brave to cope with his permanent absence,” Jaya said.

She said Santu had told her on Wednesday night that he would call her again the next morning. “I received a call in the morning from Tupul, but it was from one of his colleagues. He said Santu was missing, and today I was informed about his death,” Jaya said.

Additional reporting by Subhasish Chaudhuri in Calcutta