Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others, including his staff, the pilot and crew, lost their lives in an Indian Air Force chopper crash on December 8. There were 14 people on board. The hi-tech Mi-17V5 helicopter was en route to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, from Sulur on the day it crashed near Coonoor in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu close to the destination. A tri-service inquiry into the crash was ordered by the IAF headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command. Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the crash, also succumbed to injuries on December 15. Gen Rawat assumed office as the country’s first CDS or tri-service chief on January 1. 2020.
Gen Rawat, who was appointed as CDS in January 2019, was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the staff course.
Rawat arrived in Coimbatore from Delhi on Wednesday morning. An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter with the CDS took off from the Air Force station in Sulur in Coimbatore, and crashed at Katteri, which was about 10 km from the helipad where he was to land. TV visuals showed the chopper in flames after the crash, with local people rushing to the spot to put out the fire. The IAF said that an inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington, said a tweet by IAF. Soon after reports of the crash came in, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Defence officials. Singh subsequently briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At 6.03 pm, the IAF confirmed the passing away of Gen Rawat through its official twitter handle.
Subsequently, a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security was presided over by the Prime Minister. Besides the PM, Defence Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Credit : Business Line
Picture Credit : Google
