india

Updated: Jun 05, 2019 08:00 IST

A 27-year-old IAF flight lieutenant Mohit Garg from Samana town in Patiala district is among the 13 people who went missing after the AN-32 military transport plane went off the radar on its way to Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district on Monday afternoon.

The family of Mohit Garg in Samana town, including his father Surinder Garg and uncle Rishi Garg, left for Assam soon after receiving the information.

Mohit’s uncle Prem Pal said his father got the information about the aircraft going missing through television channels, following which he contacted officer’s wife Aastha in Assam. “Aastha confirmed it from IAF authorities that Mohit was onboard in AN-32 military transport plane and informed the family,” said Lal.

An alumnus of Punjab Public School, Nabha, Mohit, got his initial training at National Defence Academy (NDA) Khadakwasla, Pune, before being commissioned as flying officer in the IAF. Mohit is the younger of his two siblings. “The entire family is praying for his safety,” said the officer’s brother Ashwani. Mohit got married in February last year. The Soviet-origin Antonov-32 plane carrying 13 people, including an eight-man crew, took off from Jorhat in Assam at 12.27pm.

It was on its way to an advanced landing ground at Mechuka in West Siang district. The landing ground is about 15km from the Line of Actual Control, the disputed border with China. The aircraft last contacted ground control at 1pm.