PM Modi pays last respects to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and others in Delhi

PM Narendra Modi pays respect to flag-draped caskets of military chief Gen Bipin Rawat and others. Pic/AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Palam airbase here and paid his last respects to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and other 11 armed force personnel who lost their lives in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also visited Palam airbase and paid their respects to Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and other 11 armed force personnel who lost their lives in the helicopter crash. The three service chiefs - Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari also paid their respects to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and others who died in the chopper crash.

Apart from General Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat, 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. Bodies of General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar have been identified so far. The Indian Army has said that the process for positive identification of remaining mortal remains is continuing.

The mortal remains will be released to the next of kin for final religious rites as desired by respective families. The Army said that people can pay tributes to CDS General Bipin Rawat from 1100-1230 hours at his Kamraj Marg residence tomorrow. The last rites will be performed in Delhi on Friday with full military honours. The funeral procession will start from Kamraj Marg and reach Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on Friday.

The last rites of Brig LS Lidder will be held at 9.15 am at Delhi Cantonment tomorrow.

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