Belthangady: Pall of gloom continues to grip family of Eknath Shetty, the Indian Air Force personnel who went missing in the Russian-made IAF aircraft AN-32 over Bay of Bengal.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Bhushan Borase met the family of Shetty on Sunday and promised all possible support from the department. The SP spoke to Shetty’s wife Jayanthi and said, “We are in contact with the Coastal Guard DIG Suresh and Chennai Control Room and are collecting information. If you need any help you can contact the police department.”
Meanwhile, on behalf of the army, Airforce Wing Commander from Mysuru R G Hegde visited Shetty’s residence and assured all possible help.
Earlier on Saturday Captain Ganesh Karnik had met missing officer’s wife and consoled her. Being a soldier himself, Karnik advised her to be proud of her status that she is wife of an armyman.
Eknath Shetty (48) joined army as a Subedar in 1985 and moved to Madras regiment later. He had served in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Punjab with a brief stint in Sri Lanka during 1986. Though his service in army ended in 2009, he got a call from the air force to join its defence security wing. In this unit, he had served at places like Kannur, Goa and Kanpur before getting posted at Port Blair.
It may be recalled that the Indian Air Force plane carrying 29 people went missing on Friday on a flight to Port Blair in the Bay of Bengal. The Russian-made AN-32 was on its way to Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar islands, from Chennai when it disappeared from the radar. There were 21 military personnel on board including six crew members. The other people on board were civilians, some family members of soldiers deployed on the islands.
