Mangaluru: Family members of Subedar K Ekanath Shetty were inconsolable when they were handed over the uniform of the Subedar who was one among the 29 people on board the ill-fated Indian Air Force plane that went missing in July this year.
Ekanath who hails from Guruvayankere was serving in the Defence Service Corps (DSC). He was aboard the Indian Air Force flight An-32 military transport plane which was on regular courier duty with 29 people. The plane had left Tambaram air base near Chennai on July 22 at 8.30 am and was scheduled to land at Port Blair around 11.30 am. However it went off the radar after about 16 minutes. Efforts to trace the plane did not yield any result.
According to officials of Ex-Servicemen Association, the uniform and other belongings were handed over to the family as Ekanath Shetty has been declared ‘presumed dead,’ after the plane went down three months ago.
The box comprising the uniform and other belongings of the army officer was taken in a procession from Madanthyar to Ekanath’s house where DSC officer Surendra handed it over to Ekanath’s wife Jayanthi who was inconsolable.
