The funeral of General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 13 others who died in the helicopter crash on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu, will be held today at Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment.
The bodies of all the 13 who died were flown from Sulur, Tamil Nadu last night. Soon after their arrival at the Palam air base in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other top officials of defence ministry paid their tributes.
According to the Army, the civilians can pay their homage to the General Bipin Rawat between 10 am and 12.30 pm today and those who are in the forces can pay their tributes between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm.
The bodies of General Rawat and wife Madhulika Rawat are set to leave for crematorium at 2 pm. The funeral procession will pass through Rajaji Marg, Teen Murti Chowk, 11 Murti, Sardar Patel Marg and Dhaula Kaun on their way to reach Delhi Cantonment, said the Delhi Police.
While the funeral of defence assistant to General Bipin Rawat, Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder and another victim of the crash, was scheduled to be held at 9.15 T the Delhi Cantonment.
The helicopter – Mi-17 V5 that was carrying General Rawat and 12 others was on its way to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington when the crash happened.
The other personnel who were killed in the crash include Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Havildar Satpal Rai, Lance Naik B Sai Teja, Naik Gursewak Singh and Naik Jitendra Kumar.
The lone Survivor of the helicopter crash, Captain Varun Singh who has been severely injured has been shifted to the Air Force Command hospital at Bengaluru for his treatment.
Only the bodies of General Bipin Rawat, wife Madhulika Rawat, Lance Nail Vivek Kumar and Brigadier Lidder have been identified so far.
The process of identifying the other bodies is under progress, the Army said adding the appropriate funerals of all the dead will be done in consultation with their families.
