By Agencies
NEW DELHI: The final journey of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat began from his official residence here to a cremation ground where they will be laid to rest.
General Rawat, his wife, and 11 other defence personnel were killed when an Mi17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
The general will be laid to rest at the Brar Square cremation ground.
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A ceremonial Battery of the 2233 Field Regiment provided the gun carriage.
About 800 service personnel are expected to be in attendance for the military funeral.
The final journey of General Rawat and his wife began amid chants of ‘Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Rawat ji ka naam rahega’, ‘Indian Army Zindabad’ and bharat mata ki jai’, and people showered flower petals as the convoy passed.
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The mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife were kept at their official residence before cremation, and Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tributes and laid wreaths.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s top military brass paid homage to the victims of the crash after their bodies were brought to Delhi in a military aircraft on Thursday.
Following Senior Military Commanders from neighbouring countries have arrived at New Delhi to attend the final farewell of CDS General Bipin Rawat.
Sri Lanka
Gen Shavendra Silva, Chief of Def Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army
Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd), Former Chief of Defence Staff (his course mate at National Defence College and a dear friend)
Bhutan
Brig Dorji Rinchen, Deputy Chief Operations Officer, Royal Bhutan Army
Nepal
Suprobal Janasewashree Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki, Chief of General Staff (equivalent to Vice Chief of Army Staff), Nepali Army
Bangladesh
Lt Gen Waker-UZ-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division, Bangladesh
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