Amid an outpouring of grief, and shouting of patriotic slogans, the mortal remains of Flight Lieutenant S. Achudev, 25, who was killed in the Sukhoi-30 crash on May 23 at Tezpur in Assam, were laid to rest with full military honours at his home town at Pantheerankavu near here on Saturday. Flight Lieutenant Sanjay Rathnam led the Indian Air Force (IAF) crew from Coimbatore Air Force Station at the funeral ceremony.
The last journey, which began around 2.30 p.m. from Achudev’s newly built house, was attended by large number of local residents, people’s representatives, district administrators, army veterans and students. The IAF contingent, led by Mr. Rathnam, fired three rounds into the air honouring the departed soul in the presence of his father Sahadevan, mother Jayashree and sister Anushree. They also handed over the tricolour that covered the fighter pilot’s casket, and the IAF cap to the parents at the end of the ceremony.
Representing the State government, Minister for Ports and Museums Kadannappally Ramachandran attended the funeral. District Collector U.V. Jose, Additional District Magistrate T. Janil Kumar, district panchayat president Babu Parassery and MLAs from various Assembly constituencies were also present. The body was brought to Kozhikode International Airport by a special Air Force flight around 11.30 p.m.
An air of gloom hung over the small village and youths who had close association with Achudev were found struggling to restrain their emotions. The funeral ground remained crowded even after the formal ceremonies. Some of the IAF personnel also broke into tears at the funeral venue, unable to withstand the loss.
Leaders of a number of socio-political and cultural organisations paid their last respects to the departed soul and consoled the bereaved family members. Many of them even dared the monsoon downpour to reach the location and attend the ceremonies.
On Friday too, there were hordes of dignitaries, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who paid homage to Achudev in Thiruvananthapuram. The government had also sought the support of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley to continue the search operations for tracing the missing pilot’s body. With Achudev, Squadron leader Divesh Pankaj, a native of Chandigarh, too had been killed in the crash.
