AN-32 crash: Grief-stricken family of deceased Flight Lt blames govt

As the news broke out on Thursday that all the IAF personnel onboard the AN-32 aircraft lost their lives, grief struck the family of Flight Lieutenant Ashish Tanwar.

The Flight Lieutenant's mother has been crying profusely ever since she heard the news of her son's demise.

Ashish's family members have blamed the government for the AN-32 crash. Lamenting the cuts in defence expenditure, the family alleged that out of the sum channelised for defence expenditure, most of it is spent on bureaucrats.

"The number of soldiers who lose their lives due to faulty equipment is far larger than those who get martyred on the border or in wars," the IAF officer's uncle told ANI.

While the family is proud of their son, they have demanded that a stadium be constructed in their village in his memory so that young people get inspired by him and join the Armed Forces.

The AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force with 13 air warriors on board went missing on June 3 after getting airborne from Assam's Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1300 hours.

After an intense search and rescue operation for over a week, the wreckage of the missing aircraft was found 16 km north of Lipo at an elevation of 12,000 feet.

IAF on Friday declared that there were no survivors in the crash.