TALCHER: Till Thursday afternoon, Sribascha Das and his wife had no clue that their son Rana Pratap Das is no more. The 65-year-old father has a heart ailment while mother Susama is under medication for psychiatric conditions. The whole of Krishnachandrapur village in Talcher’s Kandhala panchayat was in mourning but did not allow anyone to break the news to the elderly couple. It was only when Rana’s sister arrived that the tragedy actually struck the Das family.
Rana, a Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) with the Indian Air Force, was one of the 13 who perished in the helicopter crash along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday morning. Born in 1987, Rana graduated from Talcher and was inducted in IAF in June, 2006.
After being posted across the country, he was transferred to Coimbatore three months back. Married in 2017, he and his wife have a 19-month-old child. The 34-year-old JWO last came home in Dussehra.
“We had a lot of merrymaking during the holiday. He also shared his time and experiences with IAF. When we got the news of his death last night, we couldn’t believe that Rana is gone. We are proud of our friend who died serving the nation,’ said Litu Das, a close friend.
Antaryami Sahoo, a retired primary school teacher of the village echoed the sentiment. “Rana was a bright student in the school. He nurtured the ambition to do great things in life. I hoped to see him rising through the ranks. His untimely death has left us shocked,” the teacher said.
His paternal uncle Mahesh Das was speechless. “I don’t know how his father and mother will live without him,” he sobbed. Angul Collector Siddhartha Shankar Swain said Rana will be cremated with full State honours at Talcher. “I am in touch with IAF authorities to coordinate the arrival of his mortal remains which may take a couple of days,” he added saying, Rana’s death was a great shock to the people of Angul district.