E-Paper
Udhampur chopper crash: Neighbours remember Major Anuj Rajput as a ‘polite, perfect child’
Major Anuj Rajput and his partner Major Rohit Kumar of Noida were on a training sortie when their chopper crash landed in Udhampur district. His parents left for Udhampur soon after getting the tragic news. Neighbours say Major Rajput had been passionate about flying ever since he was a child
Major Anuj Rajput, who was among the two young pilots of the Army Aviation Corps killed in a chopper crash in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Tuesday, was the only child of his parents.
The 28-year-old, who had got engaged just a few months ago, was set to get married soon.
A pall of gloom descended his neighbourhood in Sector 20, Panchkula, as news of the tragedy spread. His parents --KS Arya, a former commercial pilot and now an advocate, and mother, Usha, a government school teacher – have left for Udhampur.
Capt DK Uppal, one of the neighbours of the family, said, “Anuj was a very polite, obedient and loveable young fellow. We had never seen a child like him. Perfect is word for him.”
Coming from a family of pilots, Major Rajput had been passionate about flying since a young age. “He was only 18 when he joined the NDA and became a commissioned officer. He was promoted to the rank of major only a month-and-a-half ago. His received many awards during his service. Visit his house and you’ll see the walls filled with awards and accolades,” said Capt Uppal.
An alumnus of St John’s Chandigarh, the officer had got engaged to a teacher this July and the families were in process of finalising the wedding date when tragedy struck.
Capt Uppal revealed that Major Rajput had survived another accident about a year ago. “A Cheetah helicopter had got stuck in a high-voltage wire. Anuj was lucky as the power had been switched off at the time due to repair works. Sadly, he could not survive this crash,” said Capt Uppal.
As per information, Major Rajput and his partner Major Rohit Kumar of Ace City, Noida West in the NCR, were on a training sortie when their Cheetah helicopter crash landed in Shiv Garh Dhar area near Patnitop tourist resort in Udhampur district. The two pilots were injured in the mishap and evacuated to a hospital, but could not survive. A video clip of the incident purportedly shows villagers trying to retrieve the injured personnel from the badly mangled chopper.
