CDS Bipin Rawat Funeral Updates: Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others paid last respects to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat at his residence in Delhi on Friday. General Rawat, the nation’s most senior military officer, was killed, along with his wife and 11 armed forces personnel, in an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. He will be cremated with full military honours.
Several political leaders like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Harish Singh Rawat, BJP chief JP Nadda and DMK leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi, among others, paid tributes to the CDS and his wife Madhulika Rawat.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Brigadier Lidder, the only other person to have been positively identified besides Gen Rawat and his wife, at the Brar Square in Delhi Cantonment. He was later laid to rest with full military honours.
The bodies of the victims were flown from Sulur near Coimbatore to the Palam air base Thursday evening, where family members watched as caskets were brought out of an IAF aircraft and lined inside a hangar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met the family members, led the nation in paying tribute by placing a wreath and offering petals before each of the 13 caskets.