Sunil Kumar. Telegraph picture

Ara, Aug. 16: The blasts that sunk INS Sindhurakshak plunged Baruhi village under Sahar police station of Bhojpur district, around 60km west of Patna, in a pall of gloom.

One Sunil Kumar (22) of this village was on board the submarine when disaster struck on Wednesday.

“He worked as an operator on the submarine,” Sunil’s elder brother Anil Kumar Singh, who works with the Indian Army, said.

To make matters worse, the family is yet to get any official communication about Sunil being alive.

Three bodies recovered on Friday were charred beyond recognition.

Rescue operations are on to recover the remaining 15 people trapped inside but chances of anybody surviving seem remote.

“The government should intensify search operations as delay would nullify chances of anybody surviving,” said Sunil’s teary-eyed father Shiv Pukar Singh. He was seen being consoled by his brother Rambriksha Singh.

Sunil’s sister Renu has not given up hope yet. “Miracles do happen and god-willing my brother, too, would return safely,” she said.

Sunil joined the navy in 2009 and his family was proud of him. He had not married yet.

Just last week Lance Naik Shambhu Saran Rai of Harnohi Tola village, also in Bhojpur district, lost his life on the India-Pakistan border.

“We used to feel proud for our youths serving in the defence. These two incidents, however, have shaken our confidence. We just hope things stop here,” an Ara-based teacher said.