Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Dec. 10: The tragic death of the Chief of Defense Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, an Army Brigadier and 11 other Indian Army Personnel in an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter crash in a heavily wooded area of the Coonoor ghat in the Nilgiris in western Tamil Nadu on Wednesday afternoon has sent shockwaves through India and the world as well and the people of Diglipur wasn’t out of the shadow of this grief either.
People of Diglipur struck by great shock and grief paid floral tribute in an unfeigned gesture to the CDS Bipin Rawat at the premises of the Police Booth, Subhash Bazaar, Diglipur at around 09.00AM yesterday. A large number of people gathered and paid homage to the great son of India. Two minutes silence was also observed to mourn the tragic death of the brave son of India.
The programme was organized by Jago Hindu Jago in association with Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Diglipur, a source said.
General Bipin Rawat and the 13 people were en route from an air force base to Wellington, a hillside military college in Tamil Nadu, and died when the Russian-made Mi-17V5 military helicopter they were traveling in crashed near Coonoor.
Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Brigadier LS Lidder, Defense Assistant to the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), Wing Commander P S Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Pradeep Arakkal, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Havildar Satpal, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik Sai Teja, Naik Jitender Kumar and Naik Gursewak Singh were the other saputs of India who lost their lives in the mishap.
As per reports, the bodies of General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika will be kept at their 3, Kamaraj Marg residence from 11am to 12:30pm for the general public to pay their final respects. The funeral will be held at 4pm, the source said.
