AN-32 victim Sqn Leader Vinod cremated with full state honours in Kovai

Vinod was one among the 13 Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board the An-32 aircraft that crashed in a mountainous area in Arunachal Pradesh on June 3. The aircraft went missing around 33 minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh.

After a massive search, the wreckage of the plane was spotted near a village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts. Following an arduous search, the bodies of the deceased were then retrieved and handed over to their families.

The mortal remains of Vinod was airlifted to Sulur Air Force Station on Friday morning. With due honours, the body was then taken to his house in Singanallur area. There, Air Force officials, NCC cadets, family members and relatives paid their last respects.

It was then taken to the nearby crematorium and given full state honours with a gun salute before the funeral took place.

In a poignant scene, an Air Force official handed over the uniform of Vinod H to his inconsolable wife Divya (28).

Vinod graduated from a private engineering college in Coimbatore and joined IAF in 2011. Officials recollected his exemplary work in rescuing people while as a squadron leader in IAF during the floods in Kerala last year.