Hope against hope in Bhiwani

Sat Singh

Tribune News Service

Bhiwani, July 23

“We pray that not only our daughter, but all 29 on board AN-32 return home safely,” the parents of Flight Lieutenant Deepika Sheoran stoically said here today. 

They have not given in to despair. They believe they will be reunited with their eldest child soon. The family belongs to Todda Dhani village in Bhiwani district.  

“Deepika was a brilliant student. After BTech, she was preparing for the civil services when she decided to sit for the Combined Defence Services test. She made it in her first attempt,” recalled Dalip Sheoran with pride. An XEN (Public Health), he is posted at Hansi. Deepika joined the Indian Air Force in 2013 and her  first posting was at Port Blair. She married Kuldeep Dalal of Bhiwani, Commandant with the Indian Navy, on November 22, 2015. 

Her mother Prem Lata said she had spoken to her on the phone on Thursday night. “She told me that their plane would be returning to Port Blair on Friday.”  The Sheorans appealed to the Central Government to step up efforts to locate the missing plane and “bring back the survivors”.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu today met family members of employees of the Naval Armament Depot (NAD) in Visakhapatnam. Eight employees of the depot were among those who boarded the AN-32 aircraft.