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regular-article-logo Thursday, 16 May 2024

CDS General Bipin Rawat's funeral procession begins in Delhi

800 service personnel, 17 gun salute expected to be in attendance

Our Bureau New Delhi Published 10.12.21, 11:52 AM
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat's body being carried by army men.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat's body being carried by army men. Twitter

The final journey of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat began from his official residence here to a cremation ground where they will be laid to rest.

General Rawat, his wife, and 11 other defence personnel were killed when an Mi17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

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The general will be laid to rest at the Brar Square cremation ground. A ceremonial Battery of the 2233 Field Regiment provided the gun carriage.

About 800 service personnel are expected to be in attendance for the military funeral.

From 11 am, the bodies of Gen Rawat and his wife was kept at their Delhi home for family, friends, and the public to pay their final respects. The funeral procession began at 2 pm. The funeral itself has been scheduled for 4 pm at the Brar Square Crematorium while Brigadier Lidder's funeral was scheduled there at 9 am, according to an NDTV report.

The final journey of General Rawat and his wife began amid chants of 'Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Rawat ji ka naam rahega', 'Indian Army Zindabad' and bharat mata ki jai', and people showered flower petals as the convoy passed.

The mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife were kept at their official residence before cremation, and Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tributes and laid wreaths.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country's top military brass paid homage to the victims of the crash after their bodies were brought to Delhi in a military aircraft on Thursday.

The mortal remains of Gen Rawat and others who lost their lives in the Tamil Nadu chopper crash were brought on Thursday evening to Palam Airbase in Delhi from Sulur in caskets wrapped in the Tricolour.

The mortal remains were earlier in the day brought to Madras Regimental Centre from Military Hospital, Wellington in Nilgiris district and then taken to Sulur airbase.

Apart from General Rawat and his wife, his Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder and Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh also died in the crash.

Other nine defence forces personnel who died in the chopper crash are Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja.

Group Captain Varun Singh, who is the lone survivor from the crash, has been shifted to Air Force Command hospital at Bengaluru for further treatment.

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