India, Oct. 30 -- "Gone too soon, brother," Bengaluru police inspector Arun Salunke had written on Instagram on August 28, mourning the death of a colleague from the Central Crime Branch (CCB). A little over a month later, Salunke, 44, was himself gone, killed along with four friends from Bengaluru when the helicopter carrying them back from Badrinath crashed near Jyotirmath (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday.

The five friends had set out on the Char Dham pilgrimage three days earlier and were expected to return to Bengaluru on Friday evening. Their families and friends were waiting for them when news of the crash arrived. One of them had spoken to a childhood friend just hours earlier, describing how the group was w...