Daughters wait in vain for an outing with father

8220;He called me up last night and told me that I should concentrate on my studies now and that he would take us all for an outing and dinner once he returns...

He always used to say that he was not satisfied with his job. Neither was he paid his salary for the last month, nor was the Punjab government plane in good shape. He would say the condition of the plane was so bad that it would certainly crash one day.
Narender Kaur Sister of Capt Manjit Khokhar

8220;He called me up last night and told me that I should concentrate on my studies now and that he would take us all for an outing and dinner once he returns,8221; said a distraught Niharika, elder of the two daughters of Capt Manjit Khokhar who died in the plane crash on Wednesday morning.

Niharika, a student of Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, and her sister are based in Chandigarh with their mother as their parents were divorced. Khokhar8217;s former wife, too, was in a state of shock.

His sister, Narender Kaur, with whom he was staying in Sector 12-A here, said Khokhar had asked her for a packet of dry fruits which he wanted to take along for his friends. He also spoke to his father in the morning who insisted that he should re-marry, she added.

Khokhar had reached home from Mumbai at 2.30 pm on Tuesday. 8220;Manjit had gone to Mumbai where the C-90 King Air plane had undergone some scheduled technical propeller service, after which it was brought to Chandigarh. Ever since his return, he was on the phone, talking to his friends. Late in the evening, we sat outside the house, watching people celebrate Diwali. He slept early, saying that he had to go for the test flight in the morning for which he did not want to be late,8221; recalled Narender.

Their father, Buta Singh is a former member of the Board of Control, HAFED, and lives in Ratia village in Hisar. Khokhar8217;s body will be taken there for cremation on Thursday.

8220;After completing his diploma in commercial pilot training several years ago, he had left for the US where he stayed for around 18 years. It was only last year that he decided to return to India and settle down here. He then joined the Ranbaxy group as a pilot and remained there till he got a Punjab government job,8221; said Ram Lal Singla, a family member. It was also learnt that though he had a night club of his own in the US, Khokhar continued to work as a commercial pilot there.