NEW DELHI, Dec 11:
The bodies of 10 remaining victims of the IAF chopper crash near Coonoor were identified and the last rites of five of them were conducted on Saturday at their native places with appropriate military honour.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and his Defence Adviser Brigadier LS Lidder were among the 13 people killed in the crash on Wednesday. Gen Rawat, his wife and Brig Lidder were cremated at Delhi’s Brar Square Crematorium Friday evening.
The last rites of Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) A Pradeep, Wing Commander P S Chauhan, JWO Rana Pratap Das, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar were performed in the afternoon while Lance Naik B Sai Teja will be cremated on Sunday.
The mortal remains of the four other personnel were identified through DNA testing and they will be handed over to the family members on Sunday, an official said on Saturday night. The process of identification of these four bodies was completed in the evening.
While the last rites of Lt Col Harjinder Singh are likely take place at Brar Square crematorium in Delhi on Sunday, the bodies of Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, and Naik Jitendra Kumar will be transported to their home towns by military aircraft.
Earlier, JWO Pradeep was cremated at the premises of his residence at Ponnukkara village in Kerala’s Thrissur district with his son lighting the pyre. His mortal remains were brought to Sulur airbase in Coimbatore from New Delhi around 11 am and taken to Kerala by road.
Thousands of people gathered on both sides of the National Highway to pay homage to the departed soul. Hundreds paid their last respects to the soldier when his mortal remains were brought to his school in Puthur around 3 pm.
Later, the body was taken to his residence for cremation.
Twelve-year-old Aaradhya lit the funeral pyre of her father, wing commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, in Agra’s Tajganj crematorium along with her brother Aviraj (7) and cousin Pushpendra Singh.(PTI)
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