Thousands of people, including IAF personnel, paid their last respects to flight lieutenant Advitiya Bal, who died in a MiG-21 trainee aircraft crash in Rajasthan’s Barmer, during his last rites at his native place in Jammu on Saturday.
Bal’s mortal remains were brought home in this afternoon. Bal and wing commander M Rana were martyred in the crash on Thursday.
Bal, 26, was a resident of Jinder Mehlu village – near the India-Pakistan border in RS Pura sector of Jammu district, while wing commander Mohit Rana hailed from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district.
Bal’s family had appealed to defence minister Rajnath Singh to immediately ground the Soviet-era fighter jets. “We appeal to the defence minister to immediately stop using MiG 21 fighter jets because they have already taken away so many lives. Please ground them immediately before another crash claims another life,” Bal’s uncle Kamaljeet Bal said.
