Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the country's most senior military officer who was killed, along with his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel, in an IAF chopper crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, will be cremated with full military honours in New Delhi today afternoon.
The mortal remains of all the 13 crash victims were flown to the Palam airport from the Sulur airbase near Coimbatore where PM Modi Rajnath Singh, and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval were among the ones who led the nation in paying last respects to the departed souls.
The Army has said that the mortal remains of only three persons —General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and Brigadier Lidder — had been positively identified and so their cremation will be done on Friday.
As per sources, the body of the CDS will be kept for last darshan of civilian dignitaries and general public till the noon and at around 2 pm, his mortal remains will be taken to Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment for cremation at around 4 pm.
The remains of the 10 others would be kept in the mortuary of the Army Base Hospital till positive identification is completed through DNA matching and visual detection. Thereafter, the bodies will be handed over to their respective families.