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Barmer crash: Fighter pilot Advitiya Bal cremated with full military honours
Amid intense sloganeering, the mortal remains of 26-year-old flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal were cremated with full military honours near his native village Jinder Mehlu on the Indo-Pak border in RS Pura sector in Jammu district
Amid intense sloganeering, the mortal remains of 26-year-old flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal were cremated with full military honours near his native village Jinder Mehlu on the Indo-Pak border in RS Pura sector in Jammu district on Saturday.
A sea of people turned up to bid adieu to the brave heart. Flight lieutenant Bal and wing commander Mohit Rana of Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, were killed when in a MiG-21 aircraft at Rajasthan’s Barmer on Thursday evening.
Amid wails of family members and relatives, Adivitya’s younger brother Harshit Bal lit the pyre. IAF officers paid their last respects to their fallen colleague and the last post was sounded.
A pall of gloom descended over the village as the youngsters mourned the death of their role model, who despite hailing from a small border hamlet went on to become a fighter pilot. Bal’s mortal remains arrived at the airforce station in Jammu in a service aircraft.
“In a ceremony at the IAF station, air officer commanding (AoC) air commodore GS Bhullar paid tributes to Bal, who he said made the “supreme sacrifice in Rajasthan in service of the motherland,” officials said.
Carried in a kilometre-long cavalcade of private vehicles and Tricolour-donned motorcyclists, the IAF cortege took the road from Jammu IAF station and arrived at the fighter pilot’s home amid chanting of “Advitiya Amar Rahay.”
People gathered outside the pilot’s home in the morning and waited for the coffin to arrive. His family members broke down into tears when the coffin arrived. Advitiya’s family has urged the defence minister to immediately ground entire fleet Soviet era jets.
Locals said Bal was a “new age role model” for the children of the village and they were proud of his “martyrdom.” Sanjay Singh, a National Defence Academy (NDA) aspirant, said he was inspired by Bal and had decided to follow his footsteps.
