Punjab: Flight lieutenant Mohit Garg's family in shock as IAF recovers wreckage of AN-32 transport aircraft

PATIALA: The report of Indian Air Force (IAF) having spotted the wreckage of the missing IAF AN-32 aircraft has left the Samana based family of 27-year-old flight Lieutenant Mohit Garg (27) in a state of shock. The family has been hanging on to the hope that Mohit will return home safely.
The IAF on Tuesday issued a statement in which it said: ‘The wreckage of the missing AN-32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato, at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft, by the IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone." The statement further read, "efforts are now continuing to establish the status of occupants & establish survivors. Further details will be communicated as the recovery actions progress".
The wreckage has been spotted eight days after the aircraft went off the radar that was followed by a massive search and rescue operation that was carried out jointly by the Air Force, Army, Navy and local police as well as civil administrations of Shi Yomi and Siang districts in Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has deployed RISAT series radar imaging satellites to facilitate the search operations. The parts of the aircraft have been found 15-20 kilometres north of its flight path.
Mohit’s father Surinderpal Garg, along with his younger brother Rishipal Garg, is already at Jorhat airbase and are putting up with Mohit’s wife Asstha, while his cousin paternal uncle Dr Prempal is with the family at Samana.
On Tuesday following the reports of wreckage having been spotted, all family members went incommunicado, but those close to the family said they were shocked by the news. Rishipal Garg had recently told TOI that there were a number of rumours that were doing the rounds in and around Johrat, but they were relying on the India Air Force for credible information in regard to the missing plane.
Indian Air Force Antonov AN-32 transport aircraft had gone missing over northeast on June 3 with 13 persons on board after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for an advance landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh's Menchuka Valley near the China border.
Born in January 1992, Mohit had got married in February, last year and post-Diwali, last year, his wife who is an officer with the Uco Bank had also got transferred to Jorhat. The SRO was repeatedly marred by the difficult terrain and bad weather
The IAF has deployed a C130J four-engine turboprop transport aircraft, a Sukhoi Su-30, two Mi-17 helicopters and two Advanced Light Helicopters — one from the Army — in the search and rescue operations. Besides, the ground parties comprising teams from Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, local police and other state agencies of Arunachal Pradesh are also scouting the area. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and chief secretary Satya Gopal had also extended all possible help for the search operations.
The Navy has also sent its P-8I aircraft for the search operations that took off from INS Rajali off Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and is equipped with a powerful synthetic aperture radar considered ideal for search and rescue sweeps to locate the missing aircraft.