Air Chief visits Sarsawa IAF station to commemorate Ops Safed Sagar warriors

Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa visited Sarsawa Air Force Station on Tuesday to commemorate the sacrifice of warriors who laid down their life during Operation Safed Sagar in the Kargil war.

The Air Force Chief also took part in the 'Missing Man Formation' flypast in Mi-17 V5 helicopter to pay respect to the fallen air warriors, the Air Force said.

The timing of the flypast was synchronized with the wreath laying ceremony at the Station War Memorial.

Operation Safed Sagar was undertaken by the Air Force jointly to flush out infiltrators in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control.

On May 28, 1999, Sqn Ldr R Pundir, Flt Lt Muhilan, Sergeant RK Sahu and Sergeant PVNR Prasad laid down their lives in service of the nation while flying a mission during Ops Safed Sagar.

Sharmila, the widow of Sqn Ldr R Pundir, Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command and Lt Gen YK Joshi were also present at the event.

Nambiar had taken part in Operation Safed Sagar flying Mirage 2000 aircraft, while Lt Gen Joshi, as Commanding Officer of 13 JAKRIF, led operations on Tololing to capture Point 5140.