A pall of gloom has descended upon two villages of Bihar -- Kayamnagar in Bhojpur and Hulasganj Banbariya village in Jehanabad district -- as two locals were among five airmen killed in the Jorhat aircrash. The news of deaths of Shubham Kumar (25) and Agniveer
vayu Danish Alam (22) brought a wave of grief to villages that went into mourning ever since the tragic news broke.
Flight lieutenant Shubham Kumar (25), son of a farmer Pappu Sharma from Hulasganj Banbariya village in Jehanabad, had joined the IAF after completing training at the National Defence Academy in 2017. His wedding was scheduled in November this year. In the first week of April, he had visited his native place to attend his grandmother’s rituals (shraddh). He had returned to join his duty only 10 days ago.
Satyam, the brother of the deceased, said, “He got the information about the incident around 11 am. At first, the family did not believe it. They thought it might be some fake or misleading information.”
He said that Shubham had spoken to his mother on a video call at around 9 am. At that time, he seemed perfectly normal and happy. However, he was not able to speak to his brother.
At the native village of Agniveervayu Danish Alam at his native place Kayamnagar (Bhojpur), a wave of shock and disbelief engulfed the village after the news of the crash. Alam’s mother Akhtari Begum fell unconscious and father Mohammad Farooq Alam, who works at Giddha industrial area, was dumbstruck and gave a blank look when people tried to speak to him.
Almost the entire localities swarmed his house to console the bereaved family members. Several women from adjoining areas also reached the martyr’s house and tried to console his parents.
The 22-year-old Danish Alam was the only son of Farooq Alam and Akhtari Begum. The deceased has two elder sisters, Shagufta Parveen and Ghazala Parveen. One of them is married. Family members said that Danish had a dream of serving the country by becoming a soldier since childhood. After selection in Agniviravayu, he had joined Bihta Air Force Station on June 29, 2025 and was then sent to Belgaon (Karnataka) for training on July 3. He was posted in Jorhat since October last year.
According to the family, Danish had on May 23 visited his native place and returned to Jorhat on May 30, promising to come back soon. “However, he did not come and we have got this heart-wrenching news of his martyrdom. We never thought we will see him off for the last time when he departed from us on May 30,” said a family member.
Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary condoled the deaths. “I offer my thoughts and prayers with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. The Government of Bihar is in touch with the concerned authorities and is ready to offer any support and assistance,” he said in a message posted on X.
Meanwhile, the IAF ordered a court of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the An-32 transport aircraft crash. In a post on X, the IAF wrote, “AnIAF An-32 aircraft met with an accident today while landing at Jorhat. A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.”