Balidan Diwas
5 March 2026
Place of Supreme Sacrifice
Inglong Ekopi Hill, Bokajan, Karbi Anglong, Assam
State of Origin
Nagpur, Maharashtra
Unit / Regiment
47 Squadron, Indian Air Force
Biography
Purvesh Duragkar, aged 28, completed his schooling in Nagpur, Maharashtra, before joining the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot. He served with the 47 Squadron based at Jorhat Air Force Station and had earlier participated in Operation Sindoor, conducted against terror camps following the Pahalgam attack of 2025. On 5 March 2026, he was the co-pilot of a Su-30MKI that departed Jorhat on a routine training sortie. The aircraft disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff and crashed at Inglong Ekopi Hill in the Bokajan sub-division of Karbi Anglong district in Assam, about 60 km from the airbase. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries. He had visited home for a family gathering just ten days before the tragedy.
Remembered Alongside
Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Tarapore
17th Poona Horse · 1965
Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal
17 Poona Horse · 1971
Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte
Mumbai Police · 2008
Sepoy Bhikale Uttam Balu
2nd Battalion, Maratha Light Infantry · 2014
Sapper Chandrakant Patil
Bombay Sappers · 1971
Wing Commander Ganta Mahendra Charles
43 Squadron · 2019