Flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal, Wg Cdr Mohit Rana cremated with full military honours
JAMMU/CHANDIGARH: Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal and Wing Commander Mohit Rana, who were killed after a MiG- 21 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed during a training sortie in Rajasthan’s Barmer, were cremated with full military honours on Saturday.
In Jammu, amid intense sloganeering, the mortal remains of 26-year-old flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal were cremated near his native village Jinder Mehlu on the Indo-Pak border in RS Pura sector in Jammu district.
A sea of people turned up to bid adieu to the braveheart. 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.
Chandigarh bids tearful adieu to Wg Cdr Mohit Rana
CHANDIGARH: With moist eyes, family, friends and his air force colleagues bade adieu to Wing Commander Mohit Rana in Chandigarh.
The 36- year- old was cremated with full state honours at the Sector-25 cremation ground in the afternoon in the presence of hundreds of mourners.
Earlier in the day, Mohit’s mortal remains reached his parents’ house in New Chandigarh, where a large number of people had gathered to pay tributes to him. Emotions ran high as IAF personnel entered their house carrying the casket on their shoulders.
Mohit was the only son of Col OP Rana (retd), who stood tall while he saluted the mortal remains of his son. Petals were showered as the casket was taken to the cremation ground.
Before the last rites, Mohit’s wife Nidhi Rana, with their three-year-old daughter, paid floral tribute to the Wing Commander. Mohit’s family hails from Sandhol in Himachal Pradesh and had shifted to New Chandigarh in 2016, after Col Rana’s retirement.
Wanted to fly planes since childhood
Family and friends gathered at his house on Saturday said they were proud of Mohit’s service to the nation. They said Mohit was fond of flying planes since an early age. “The army culture was ingrained in him from a very early age. He wanted to fly planes since his childhood, which became a path for him to join the IAF,” said Vijay Kumar, a relative.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla, Mohit was commissioned into the IAF in December 2005 from the 176th Course. Also a flight instructor, he was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander in December 2018.