Squadron Leader Lokender Singh Sindhu, one of the two Indian Air Force pilots who lost their lives in the Jaguar fighter jet crash in Churu, Rajasthan, had recently become a father and rejoined duty on June 30.
The 32-year-old officer, who stepped into fatherhood on June 10, hailed from Kheri Sadh village in Haryana’s Rohtak. He had returned to duty at the Suratgarh airbase. His wife, Dr. Surbhi Sindhu, is a doctor by profession. She was at her parental home in Hisar with her newborn baby boy when the heartbreaking news reached them.
His family in Rohtak’s Dev Colony is in shock. Joginder Singh, Squadron Leader Lokender Singh Sindhu’s father, is a retired superintendent from Maharshi Dayanand University in 2023, and his mother is a school teacher, while his elder brother Gyanendra is working with a multi-national company.
The family has a strong connection to the forces. Lokender’s sister Anshi has recently finished her tenure as short service commissioned officer in the Indian Air Force, while his brother-in-law is a wing-commander.
Lokender had called his father in the morning before leaving for the sortie. Just a few days earlier, he had proudly shared pictures of his baby boy in the family WhatsApp group.
Recalling his son’s journey to the skies, his father said Lokender was a bright student since he was a child and always wanted to become a pilot in the Indian Air Force.
“He pursued his school education from Maharshi Dayanand University’s campus school and joined the Air Force in 2011. He was posted at Suratgarh in Rajasthan,” the proud father said.
The crash also claimed the life of Flight Lieutenant Rishi Raj Singh from Rajasthan’s Pali. It is the third Jaguar-related accident since March. The IAF has launched a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident.
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