Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.9: The mortal remains of late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and other armed forces personnel will reach Delhi around 8 PM today. Some of the family members of the personnel killed in the military aircraft crash will also be present.
PM Modi is due to pay his respects to late CDS Bipin Rawat and other Armed Forces personnel at around 9 PM today. Defence Minister, Minister of State for Defence, National Security Advisor and three Services chiefs will also be present there.
On Wednesday afternoon, CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 others were killed in an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris area.
M K Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, and military personnel, among others, paid floral tributes to the victims in Coonoor earlier this morning.
The mortal remains of the crash victims were transported in decorated army vehicles from Madras Regimental Centre in Nilgiris district to Sulur airbase in caskets draped in the Indian tricolour. The deceased remains will be flown to Delhi from Sulur airstrip.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that India’s first CDS would be laid to rest with full military honours. He also stated that the funeral rites of the other servicemen killed in the crash would be conducted with appropriate military honours.