CDS General Bipin Rawat's mortal remains consigned to flames | Updates

Military commanders of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh will attend the last rites of  CDS General Bipin Rawat.

These include--Gen Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army

Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd), former Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka -- CDS Rawat's course-mate at National Defence College and a dear friend and Brig Dorji Rinchen, Deputy Chief Operations Officer, Royal Bhutan Army, Suprobal Janasewashree Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki, Chief of General Staff, Nepali Army, Lt Gen Waker-UZ-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division, Bangladesh. 

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday passed a condolence motion to pay tribute to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.

The condolence motion was moved by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur as soon as the House assembled at 11 am on the first day of the Winter Session at Tapovan in Dharamshala.

The person who recorded the last moments of the ill-fated chopper MI 17 V5 that crashed in the Katteri park near Coonoor killing Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 Armed Forces personnel, deposed before the Coimbatore city police on Friday morning. 

The person Kutty, along with his friend Nasar and his family, was on a visit to Coonoor and was recording the fog that had formed in the area. And while doing so also recorded the last moments of the helicopter.

I am going to be 17. So he was with me for 17 years, we will go ahead with happy memories. It's a national loss. My father was a hero, my best friend. Maybe it was destined and better things will come our way. He was my biggest motivator: Aashna Lidder, daughter of Brig LS Lidder

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday personally wrote to the families of the Defence personnel killed in the Coonoor helicopter crash expressing his condolences, the state government said. All the people were with the families during this tough time, he told them in separate letters.

The state government had ensured all arrangements during the rescue activities and later during transportation of the mortal remains of the deceased, which were later flown from Coimbatore to Delhi, it said.

The BJP youth wing on Friday will organise a programme at 500 'Shaheed Samaraks' (martyrs memorials) across the country to pay tribute to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel, who lost their lives in a military chopper crash.

French & Israel envoys to India, Emmanuel Lenian and Naor Gilon respectively paid floral tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat who lost their lives in the IAF chopper crash on Wednesday. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pays tributes to CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat who lost their lives in the IAF chopper crash on Wednesday. 

CDS General BipinRawat’s unit 5/11 Gorkha Rifles is looking after all the arrangements at his last rites. He was commissioned in the unit and also went ahead to command it.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat, who were among the 13 killed in the military chopper crash in Tamil Nadu.

The mortal remains of Gen Rawat and his wife were kept at their official residence here before cremation.

Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to pay his tribute at General Bipin Rawat's residence at 10 am today. 

Civilians can pay tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at his Karaj Marg residence. 

The tri-services team investigating the tragic chopper crash near Coonoor that killed CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and 12 others is focusing on all possible reasons including whether a human error caused the accident, people familiar with the development said on Thursday.

The chopper crashed at around 12:22 pm, they said, adding it was to land at Wellington at around 12:15 pm. "All angles including possible human error will be investigated," a senior military offcial said. In a statement in Parliament, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced ordering a tri-services enquiry into the accident.

Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Wangchuck on Thursday offered prayers for CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulka and 11 others killed in the IAF chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, Indian officials said. They said Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the King's father also offered prayers for those killed in the crash on Wednesday, they said.

"The King and His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo have sent messages of condolence for the bereaved families, and the government and people of India," said an official. Gen Rawat visited Bhutan several times during his career and had a very cordial relationship with the top leadership of the country. The officials said the Bhutanese prime minister, foreign minister and senior officers of the country's armed forces attended a ceremony to pay tributes to Gen Rawat and others. 

Indian Air Force's Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper crash that resulted in the death of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others in Tamil Nadu, has been shifted to Command Hospital in Bengaluru for further treatment. Earlier today, in his statement in Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday informed that the IAF Group Captain is on life support in Military Hospital at Wellington.

The health condition of the Shaurya Chakra awardee is critical but stable. The Group Captain was recently conferred with the Shaurya Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind for his act of exceptional gallantry.