Gen Bipin body to be brought to Delhi, funeral Friday

The mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika, who were killed in a helicopter crash at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, will be brought to Delhi in a military plane on Thursday evening.

Reports said the funeral will be held on Friday in Delhi Cantonment.

The bodies would be brought to his house on Friday and people would be allowed to pay last respect from 11 am to 2:00pm, followed by a funeral procession which will start from Kamraj Marg to Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment, reported ANI.

Besides the CDS and his wife, 11 Armed Forces personnel were also killed in the mishap. Rawat was travelling to the Defence Staff College in Wellington from the Indian Air Force base in Sulur near Coimbatore when the Mi-17V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed near Coonoor around noon.

The chopper crashed just minutes before reaching its destination.

The Air Force confirmed the demise of General Rawat in the evening on Twitter. “With deep regret, it has now been ascertained Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,” it said.

The IAF has ordered an enquiry into the accident.

Apart from his wife, CDS Rawat was accompanied by his DA Brigadier LS Lidder and SO Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh.

Others defence personnel on Indian Air Force's Mi 17 V5 helicopter were Wg Cdr PS Chauhan, Sqn Ldr K Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A, Hav Satpal, Nk Gursewak Singh, Nk Jitender, L/Nk Vivek and L/Nk S Teja.

Group Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor of the accident, is under treatment at a military hospital.

Soon after the government confirmed the death of General Rawat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a crucial meeting of the cabinet committee on security (CCS) in the evening.

The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Misra and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba also attended the meeting, in which the CCS members were briefed about the tragic incident, reports agency.

MMA/