IAF aircraft wreckage: Two Odia families waits for bodies to perform last rites

More than seven years after the disappearance of Charana Moharana and Purna Chandra Senapti in the Indian Air Force’s AN-32 transport aircraft, their families still await the bodies for the last rites. The aircraft went missing over the Bay of Bengal in July 2016, and both families have refrained from performing the last rites in the hope that the bodies would be found one day. The recent discovery of the aircraft wreckage at a depth of around 3,400 meters off the Chennai coast has renewed their hopes.

Charana Moharana, 27, from Sukunda village in Ganjam district, worked as a fitter in the Naval Armament Depot in Visakhapatnam. Purna Chandra Senapati, from Rangaranga village in Jajpur district, worked as a technician in the same depot. Two officers from the Naval Armament Depot in Visakhapatnam officially informed their parents about their disappearance a couple of days after the plane went missing.

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Both families have not performed the last rites, stating that the bodies are needed for the rituals. Charana’s sister, Sasmita Moharana, mentioned, “We have not performed his last rites as his body was not found.” Sudam Moharana, Charana’s 75-year-old father suffering from cancer, expressed hope that the discovery of the aircraft debris might lead to finding his son’s body.

Purna Chandra Senapati’s younger brother, Pratap Chandra, stated that they haven’t performed the 11th-day rituals as per Hindu beliefs, and they strongly believe he is alive. Despite the government declaring the missing personnel dead and providing compensation, the families could not accept it without the bodies.

The debris of the missing aircraft was located on the seabed about 310 km from the Chennai coast by the National Institute of Ocean Technology. The aircraft, with registration K-2743, disappeared during an operational mission from Chennai to Port Blair. Despite extensive search and rescue operations, the missing personnel and aircraft debris had not been located until the recent discovery.