- Gen. Rawat given full military honours
- Brigadier Lidder was also bade goodbye by Army
- Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor, is stable
- Only four bodies have been identified so far
Delhi: The last rites of Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife Dr. Madhulika were performed by their daughters Kritika and Tarini at Brar Squate Crematorium on Friday evening amidst full military honours. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the bodies of the military officials who died in a copter accident at Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu near Ooty. At the crematorium Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stood in silent tribute to the chief of defence staff and his wife.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present at the ceremony. Earlier Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and leaders of other parties went to the residence of Gen. Rawat to pay their respects. The bodies of the general and his wife were brought to the crematorium by a decorated gun carriage. Senior military officials from neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangla Desh, Nepal and Bhutan were present at the funeral. Some civilians waving national flag and shouting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ were following the gun carrier. As the pyre was lit and flames rose, a 17-gun salute was accorded to Gen. Rawat.
Earlier, Brigadier LS Lidder was bade goodbye by his colleagues in the Army at the same place. He was one of the 13 persons died in the copter accident on Wednesday. Only four bodies have been identified so far. Gen. Rawat, his wife Madhulika, Brigadier Lidder and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar’s bodies were identified. The rest of the bodies are kept at the Army hospital in Delhi. Bodies of nine persons have yet to be identified.
Group Captian Arun Singh, the lone survivor in the accident is being treated at an Army hospital in Bengaluru where he was shifted on Thursday from the Wellington hospital where he was treated soon after the accident. His condition was described by the hospital as critical but stable. He was awarded Shourya Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind on 15 August 2021 for the act of courage he did on 12 October 2020. In September, he wrote a letter to the principal of the school he studied in Haryana that average students also can succeed in later life provided they have application of mind.
