AN-32 crash: Mortal remains of Flt Lt from Punjab’s Samana consigned to flames

PTI, Jun 21, 2019, 1:05 PM IST

Patiala: A large number of people turned up in Samana here on Friday to bid a tearful adieu to Flight Lieutenant Mohit Garg, who was among 13 IAF personnel aboard the AN-32 aircraft which crashed in Arunachal Pradesh recently.

The mortal remains of Mohit were consigned to flames with full state honours at a cremation ground in Samana.

While six bodies were retrieved Wednesday from the crash site, the remains of seven others were recovered Thursday.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed Friday morning after the mortal remains of Garg, draped in the tricolour, reached his home at Aggarsen colony here. His family members were inconsolable.

Punjab cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla was present to pay tributes along with senior IAF officers, besides personnel from the police and civil administration.

Slogans such as ‘Mohit Amar Rahe’, ‘Jab Tak SurajChand Rahega, Mohit Tera Naam Rahega’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ were shouted when the mortal remains were being taken to the cremation ground.

A number of relatives and family members of Garg were crying inconsolably as the mortal remains in the coffin were kept for mourners to pay their last respects.

The funeral pyre was lit by Mohit’s younger brother Ashwani Garg. Mohit Garg (27) got married a year ago and his wife Astha was posted in a bank in Assam.

All 13 personnel aboard the Russian-made AN-32 had perished in the crash on June 3 about 30 minutes after the aircraft took off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh.

The plane had simply gone missing and remained traceless till June 11, when its wreckage was located in the Pari mountains. The Indian Air Force had been making efforts to retrieve the bodies from the crash site since then but the inclement weather and difficult terrain had been making the recovery difficult.