Milon Mukherjee, uncle of Muktesh Mukherjee who is on Malaysia Airlines plane which has gone missing with 239 people on board, today said he was clutching to hopes that his nephew would be well.
"I still hope that God will not be so cruel to a family," Mukherjee, an accomplished lawyer practicing at Calcutta High Court, told PTI here.
Indian-origin Canadian Muktesh (42), vice-president of operations in China of Pennsylvania-based Xcoal Energy and Resources was onboard the plane with his Chinese wife Xiaomo Bai.
Muktesh is the grandson of Mohan Kumaramangalam, the steel and mines minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet.
Kumaramangalam had died in an air crash in May 1973 near Palam Airport in New Delhi.
Muktesh is the son of Moloy Mukherjee, who was a senior executive and board member of ArcelorMittal Group, and Uma, eldest daughter of Kumaramangalam.
"He is like my son, we are very close and even went to watch the last football World Cup final together," Mukherjee said.
According to his uncle, Muktesh studied at Calcutta Boys' School here till class VIII and then went to DPS, Bhilai. He then studied at BIT Mesra before going away to Canada to pursue higher studies.
Malaysia Airlines today said it is 'fearing the worst' for its missing plane carrying 239 people and is working with a US company that specialises in disaster recovery to locate the aircraft.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 plane from Kuala Lumpur has 227 passengers on board, including five Indians and one Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members.