Pune: “He was the only hope for me. I never opposed his decision to join the NDA. I supported his dream. Today, I feel that was my mistake,” said Pradeep Kumar Bajpai standing outside the Sassoon General Hospital’s mortuary on Saturday, a day after his son, cadet Abhinav Bajpai (17), died suffering a medical emergency during a physical training session at the NDA.“I had come to the NDA (National Defence Academy) to drop him off last month. He was so happy and excited. God has taken away everything I had,” Pradeep said, showing his son’s selfies with him on cellphone.Abhinav, hailing from Shuklaganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, had joined the tri-services academy on June 24. Less than three weeks later, he collapsed during the first official physical training parade on Friday morning.According to the NDA’s statement, doctors could not revive him despite being rushed to the Military Hospital in Khadakwasla. The NDA has ordered a Court of Inquiry.A ward orderly at a government hospital in Kanpur, Pradeep said his academically brilliant son had dreamt of serving the nation and never complained about anything. “He always told me, ‘Papa, don’t worry. I am fine. The training is tough, but I am enjoying it. I will clear it,’” Pradeep recalled his last few conversations with Abhinav over phone.Abhinav’s father said, “I wanted my son to become a doctor because I work in a hospital. But he wanted to join the NDA. I never imposed my wishes on him. He was brilliant enough to become a doctor or an engineer, but serving the nation was his dream.”The Uttamnagar police on Saturday recorded statements of Abhinav’s parents and fellow cadets present during the training session. Police sub-inspector Akshay Patil said the post-mortem examination was conducted on Saturday morning before the body was handed over to the family.“The viscera has been preserved. The exact cause of death would be known only after we get the final medical report. The cadet’s parents have not raised any complaint regarding the training and told us that their son was perfectly fine when they last spoke to him,” Patil said.Former physical training officer at the NDA, Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers’ Training Academy (OTA), Col Vinay Dalvi (retd), told TOI, “The death of a cadet at a military academy is not an isolated tragedy but a reminder of long-standing gaps in India’s military selection and training systems.”Dalvi, who has authored several books and papers on the selection and training of military cadets, said only deaths of cadets drew public attention, while numerous serious injuries and medical board-outs remained largely unnoticed.”It is the need of the hour to have mandatory physical test during the Services Selection Board (SSB) process, comprehensive medical and physical screening immediately after cadets join academies, timely fitness assessments before training begins and a more scientific physical training regimen that prioritises workload, rest and recovery to minimise deaths and serious injuries.”
