Plea for gallantry award for IAF pilot killed in crash

A Punjab minister today asked chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to recommend to the Centre to honour with gallantry award an IAF pilot killed in a recent MIG crash in Muktsar district.

Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, in a letter to the CM, said Lt Manu Akhauri saved the lives of many on the ground at Gidderbaha in Muktsar even when his life was at stake.

   
On September 10, a MIG 21 flying over a village with over 6,000 population had developed some technical snag and caught fire. The audacious fighter then averted a crash near a bus and a petrol pump, before hitting the ground.