MANGALURU: A pall of gloom has descended on the house of Ekanath Shetty at Guruvayanakere in Beltangady taluk. Shetty is one of the 29 on board the AN-32 transport plane that took off from Tambaram Air Force base at 8.30 am on July 22 and went missing.
While Shetty’s children Ashika and Akshay still hope for the best, his wife Jayanthi is in no mood to talk with anybody.
Shetty had come home on short leave on July 3, as there was a house-warming ceremony of his sister at Suratkal on July 6.
After attending the programme, he left for Chennai on July 9.Shetty told his wife on July 21 that he will not able to go to Port Blair, claiming that a small surgery was required on his leg.
However, Shetty’s wife Jayanthi received a phone call, informing that her husband was aboard the IAF aircraft that went missing after taking off from Tambaram Air base in Chennai.
Shetty’s contract to end on August 17 Ekanatha Shetty’s father, the late Krishna Shetty, was also in the Indian Army. His father inspired him to join the armed forces.
Ekanatha Shetty joined the Indian Army in 1985. After 24 years of service, as a subedar in the Indian Army, he retired in 2009. Though he had decided to spend the rest of his life with his family after retiring, his zeal for serving the nation did not allow him to sit idle at home. He hence joined the Defence Security Corps (DSC) of IAF for six years.
As he had joined the DSC for a period of six years, his term was to end on August 17. However, the plane he was in went missing just as he was about to be discharged from the DSC.
Jayanthi works as a high school teacher at SDM Ujire. His daughter Ashika Shetty is studying in the final year of college, while his son Askhay is studying for the SSLC in Ujire.
‘I don’t believe that my father is dead’
Shetty’s family members are still hopeful of his safe return. Shetty’s daughter Ashika(19) got enraged when the media tried to photograph her family.
She said her father is still alive. “As a search operation is on, we are optimistic of his safe return. I cannot imagine that my father is dead,” she said, with tears rolling down her eyes. Shetty’s son Akshay said, “I won’t believe any rumours until I see him. I hope he will return safely,” he said.
‘Why is government negligent?’
Shetty’s brother-in-law Sathish said, “Why is the government negligent towards those who are safeguarding our nation? Why have they allowed defence personnel to fly in an aircraft that had experienced several technical snags during the last few months?” he questioned.