Two Malayalis from Kozhikode on missing IAF AN-32 plane
Vimal was the lone Army man in the group that boarded the aircraft from Tambaram to their place of duty in Port Blair.
KAKKODI (KOZHIKODE): Two Malayalis from Kozhikode were among the 29 defence personnel who travelled in the AN-32 Air Force aircraft that went missing en route to Port Blair from Chennai on Friday. They are I.P. Vimal, 30, junior engineer with the Madras Engineers Group (MEG), and Sajeev Kumar, 38, Navy officer. Vimal is the son of Padmaja and the late Vasu Nair, Cheriyarambath, Kottupadam, Makkada, near Kakkodi. His wife is Reshma and he has an elder brother, Vipin.
Sajeev is the son of Rajan, Thattoor, Nellikunnummal, Kakkur, 20 km from here. His wife is Jaseena and they have a five-year-old daughter, Diya. He has two brothers. It seems fate played a role in Vimal’s trip as his batch mate was supposed to go in the aircraft. But he was affected by jaundice and hence replaced by Vimal. Vimal was the lone Army man in the group that boarded the aircraft from Tambaram to their place of duty in Port Blair.
As search was continuing for the missing aircraft on Saturday, gloom descended on Vimal’s native place. “He was a smart chap who pursued studies after he got into the service. He joined as a sepoy some 14 years back and completed mechanical engineering diploma in Pune,” said Subedar Major K. Premnathan, under whom Vimal worked in Pune.
After completing the course, he got promotion as junior engineer and was posted to Port Blair last month and came home along with wife Reshma. He returned to the island after leaving her here. Sajeev Kumar had completed 17 years in the service and two years in Port Blair. He was back to work after removing a tube fit in the body for kidney stone surgery conducted in the Bangalore Army hospital a couple of days back.
“He called his wife Jaseena who is in Port Blair before boarding the aircraft at 8 a.m. When he did not call after the expected time of arrival, Jaseena called up her brother-in-law and soon the news of the missing aircraft was communicated,” said Lijeesh, Sajeev’s friend. Ministers A.K. Sasheendran and T.P. Ramakrishnan visited both the houses on Saturday. “The Chief Minister’s office is in touch with the defence office to get the latest information about the ongoing search,” said Mr Sasheendran.