Last rites of Squadron Leader to be performed in Baghpat village
The last rites of Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary, who was killed when an IAF MiG-21 Bison aircraft crashed during heavy rain in a field in Punjab’s Moga district on Thursday night, will be performed at his village Pushar in Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, a relative said on Friday.
The aircraft was on a training sortie from Suratgarh in Rajasthan when it crashed in Langeana village of Moga, said Moga superintendent of police Gurdeep Singh, according to PTI.
The relative Sheoraj Singh, a retired police officer, said Abhinav’s family had roots in Pushar village though the
Indian Air Force (IAF) officer’s father currently resided in Ganga Sagar locality in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh along with his younger sister and mother. The family was in touch with IAF officials to receive the body, he said.
Abhinav had graduated from the National Defence Academy in 2014 and became a fighter pilot, he added.
Another relative Kuldeep Ujjawal said Abhinav had married Sonika Ujjawal in December 2019. She had topped Baghpat in the intermediate (class 12) exams and was pursuing her masters in science from France, he added.
Her father Shiv Kumar Singh was the principal of a junior high school at Mavikala village of Baghpat, he said.
Meanwhile, relatives and neighbours began arriving at the home of the officer’s father in Ganga Sagar locality of Meerut to console the bereaved family members.