A pall of gloom has descended over the family members of two persons from Odisha, who are among the 29 people on board the IAF's AN-32 aircraft which had gone missing on Friday while flying over the Bay of Bengal.
The two persons are Purna Chandra Senapati of Rangaranga village in Jajpur district and Charan Moharana of Sukunda village in Ganjam district.
With no sign so far of the missing plane, which was flying from Chennai to Port Blair, the family members are spending sleepless nights awaiting information about them.
Senapati had spoken to his family members over phone on Thursday, a day before the plane went missing, his mother Ujali Senapati said.
"My son spoke to me at 7 PM on Thursday while he was in Bengaluru on way towards Port Blair," she said.
The aircraft, which was due to land at Port Blair at 11.30 AM at INS Utkrosh naval air station in Port Blair, is yet to be located.
Similar was the scene at Charan's village near Berhampur. His family members said Charan had spoken to his parents and informed them about his journey to Port Blair on official duty. He had told them that he would be back in few days.
Some of his relatives met senior district officials yesterday and requested them to provide the latest information about the whereabouts of the aircraft.
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Meanwhile, one Army personnel from Manipur who was among the 29 passengers on board the Indian Air Force plane which disappeared in the middle of Bay of Bengal, has been identified as 22-year-old Riflemen H Ginzasiam from New Lamka Dorcas Veng in Churachandpur district, police said.
Ginzasiam, served in the 15th Battalion of Assam Regiment and was earlier posted in Jammu, Officer In-charge of Churachandpur Police Station, Thangjamuan said.
The police officer said the missing personnel was transferred to Port Blair and had left Imphal for Chennai for his posting.
