Lance Naik Rohit Narayan Patil of 1 Para SF Dies in Yamuna Training Accident at Hathnikund Barrage

Lance Naik Rohit Narayan Patil of the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), died after being swept away in the Yamuna River during a watermanship training exercise at Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district, with his body recovered on 3 September nearly 200 kilometres downstream. The incident took place on the evening of 1–2 September 2026, when an Army boat carrying five soldiers was caught in strong currents during a joint drill.

Patil was one of five personnel from 1 Para SF taking part in what official and local accounts described as a flood-related or aerial-to-water training exercise. According to the source details, the boat suffered a technical snag, lost power and was pushed by the current towards the downstream side of the barrage. It then became trapped in powerful eddies near the sluice gates before capsizing. Three commandos managed to swim to safety, while two were swept away by the river.

The second soldier who went missing in the mishap was Paratrooper Ajay Bhagat of Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. His body was recovered earlier, on the night of 3 September, from the Yamuna near Bartha village in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, about 12 to 15 kilometres from the barrage. At the time the recoveries were first reported, the Army had not issued a formal public confirmation of the names.

Patil, who was from Sangli district in Maharashtra, was identified in later reports after some early accounts had referred to him as Aryan Patil. His body was found in the Hansi Branch Canal near Jind in Haryana after an extensive search effort that continued for more than a day.

The operation to trace the missing soldiers involved multiple agencies, including the Army, Indian Air Force helicopters, the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force teams from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, police personnel and civil administration officials. Water release from the barrage and the Western Yamuna Canal was reduced to support the search.

1 Para SF, one of the oldest Special Forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment and known as “Pratham,” specialises in high-risk tasks, including specialised insertion and watermanship training. Live-river drills of the kind being conducted at Hathnikund are part of the unit’s preparation for operations in difficult environments. The deaths highlight the risks that can accompany even peacetime training for Special Forces soldiers.

Families of both soldiers have been informed. Official identification procedures, last rites and formal tributes from the Army are expected to follow, and the search for the missing personnel ended after both bodies were recovered.