KOLLAM/ITANAGAR: A native of Anchal in Kollam district is in the AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force which went missing around thickly-forested Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday. The Russian-origin transport aircraft with 13 people on board including Anoop Kumar (29) of Eroor in Alancherri, flight engineer went missing Monday afternoon around 33 minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka near the border with China. Seven officers and six soldiers were in the aircraft.

Anoop, who has been in the army for 11 years, last came home one and a half months back. Vrinda is his wife and has a six-month-old-baby. His relatives have left for Assam. Search for the missing aircraft is continuing.

Aircraft equipped with advanced sensors including C-130J, AN-32 and Indian Navy's long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I were deployed besides Mi-17 and ALH helicopters of the Army to locate the missing plane. Giving details about the search operation, ISRO's Cartosat and RISAT satellites are taking images of the area around Menchuka to help the rescuers find the plane.