'His mother hasn’t been told’: Families mourn IAF officers killed in Arunachal crash

Squadron Leader H Vinod, Sergeant Anoop Kumar and Corporal Sharin NK were killed in the crash.
'His mother hasn’t been told’: Families mourn IAF officers killed in Arunachal crash
'His mother hasn’t been told’: Families mourn IAF officers killed in Arunachal crash
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Three Air Force officers from Kerala were killed in the AN-32 aircraft crash in Arunachal Pradesh. The three officers have been identified as Squadron Leader H Vinod from Thrissur, Sergeant Anoop Kumar from Kollam and Corporal Sharin NK from Ancharakandi in Kannur.

The aircraft went missing on the afternoon on June 3, minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh.

Sharin, hailing from Ancharakandi in Kannur, was the sole breadwinner of his family, who had last seen him in April when he came home during his leave. His father, PK Pavithran, is a salesman at a vegetable shop. He once worked at Dinesh Beedi, a co-operative society based in Kannur that manufactures beedi.

The family was informed of the accident the night of June 3, the day the accident happened.

“We haven’t yet gotten clear information on when the body will be brought back. We had been informed on Friday night that it would be brought on Saturday. His mother hasn’t been told yet. She knows that he is missing but hopeful that he will come back. We have disconnected the TV connection and have kept newspapers away from her,” Sharin’s uncle, Anil Kumar told TNM.

“The family is not financially well-off. It was after Sharin got the job, soon after he completed his Class 12 that they started having a better life,” says Anil Kumar, who is Pavithran’s younger brother.

26-year old Sharin is married and his wife Ashitha is eight months pregnant. “His father and wife must have understood the reality by now, while the mother hopes that he has landed somewhere and is alive,” he says.

Sergeant Anoop Kumar’s family in Anchal, on the outskirts of Kollam, was informed of his death on Thursday. His brother Aneesh and two other relatives had gone to Assam after receiving the news of the missing aircraft. Anoop had last visited his home in Alanchery near Anchal one-and-a-half months ago.

“At that time, he told me he was taking his wife and son along with him to Assam so that his wife, who is an Ayurveda doctor, can pursue her MD there. We are awaiting official information on the arrival of the body,” Anoop Kumar’s uncle Vijayan Pillai told TNM.

34-year old Anoop joined the Air Force more than a decade ago. He is survived by his wife, Vindhyajit, his seven-month-old son, Drona R Nair, and his parents, Sasidharan and Vimala.

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