Blood-stained shoe, PAN card found, parents of Su-30 pilot want search intensified
Search and rescue staff have not found the two IAF pilots of the Sukhoi-30 that crashed a week ago.
The parents of one of the two missing IAF pilots of the Sukhoi-30 fighter jet that crashed near the Assam-Arunachal border a week ago have requested for more people to be deployed for search operations.
Search and rescue teams on Monday found a blood-stained shoe, a half-burnt PAN card and a wallet at the crash site, which is located in a dense forest.
But there was no trace of squadron leader Devesh Pankaj and flight lieutenant Achuth Dev who were flying the Russian-made Su-30.
“It has been a week since the crash. We request the authorities to deploy additional personnel and intensify search operations,” Dev’s father PV Sahadevan said.
A former scientist with Indian Space Research Organisation, Sahadevan and his wife, who are from Kerala, reached Tezpur in Assam on May 25, two days after the plane went off the radar.
The wreckage was found three days later in a thick forest around 60km from Tezpur.
“Search operations are continuing despite bad weather conditions. However, there is still no trace of the two pilots,” IANS quoted an Indian Army official as saying on Tuesday.
Sahadevans are worried the search might be called off.
The jet, which was on a routine training mission and took off from IAF’s Tezpur base, lost radar and radio contact 40 minutes into the flight.
“It is surprising that despite having advanced technology and manpower, the pilots have not been traced yet,” Sahadevan said.
Search operations could be hampered the next two days as a cyclone is expected to make a landfall on Tuesday. Heavy rain is forecast for the entire Northeast region.
Get Current Updates on Election 2024, India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.