Thirty-two-year-old lieutenant commander Alok Kumar spoke to his father and elder brother 20 minutes before INS Sindhurakshak caught fire and exploded in the Naval Dockyard.
“Among our family and relatives, Alok is the first person who became a class one officer.
He is smart and caring,” said Alok’s brother, Deep Kumar, who is an assistant manager in a nationalised bank in Kanpur.
Alok’s family, including his father, mother, elder brother, sister in-law and 10- month-old twin niece, have come to Mumbai from Kanpur. His sister and her husband have come from Chennai and they are all living in Alok’s flat in Anuradha building in NOFRA. “We are praying for the best and want to see him back. The navy is not giving us any time frame about the salvage” said Deep. “A month ago Alok visited Kanpur after Deep was blessed with twin daughters, Diya and Piya. He loves them a lot and he used to call us everyday.
He pampered my kids a lot and use to keep sending gifts for them.”
Alok joined the Indian Navy in 2004 and married four years ago. He came to Mumbai a year ago. “He used to make it a point to talk to our father, PL Sahu everyday. But on August 13, he could not speak to father in the morning as there was some internal departmental exam in the navy. So he called us in the evening and spoke for a good 20 minutes before he entered the submarine” said Deep.
Thomas, uncle of 29-year-old Liju Lawrence, said one of Lawrence’s promises to his family was that he would be back home to celebrate Onam with them. The sailor was married this year on June 5 and the very next day after his marriage, Lawrence left to join INS Sindhurakshak. “This was supposed to be his first Onam with his wife. Every time he called, he would promise that he would be back home to celebrate the festival,” said Thomas.
On August 28, 2013, Lawrence would have completed 10 years of service in the Indian Navy.
