IAF sources said the body of Group Captain Varun Singh, who survived the IAF helicopter crash earlier this month that killed Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others, was carried to Bhopal by a service aircraft on Thursday. Will go
A week after being critically injured in an accident near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, Group Captain Varun Singh, a decorated air warrior, died at the Air Force Command Hospital here on Wednesday.
Sources said the body would be taken from the hospital to Air Force Station Yelahanka at 10 am tomorrow, where wreaths would be laid in the honor of the departed.
He told that the body will be taken from Yelahanka to Bhopal and the last rites are planned on December 17.
Initially admitted to the hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district with 80 per cent burns, Singh was shifted to the Command Hospital here on December 9 for higher treatment.
On 8 December, General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other defense personnel were killed when the Mi17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed.
Expressing grief over Singh’s death, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the country has lost a brave soldier.
“Deeply saddened by the passing away of Group Captain Varun Singh. The nation has lost a brave soldier. I extend my deepest condolences to his family,” he said.
On receiving the news of the death of the Air Force officer, family friends and well-wishers rushed to his residence here.
Mr Singh’s father was very optimistic about his survival skills as he survived a life-threatening emergency while flying a Tejas aircraft during a flight last year.
The air warrior was awarded the Shaurya Chakra, India’s third highest peacetime gallantry award for displaying exemplary restraint and skill in August this year when his Tejas aircraft developed a technical snag during flight.
The 39-year-old officer, who was known to be an excellent test pilot, is survived by an 11-year-old son, an eight-year-old daughter and his wife. The Group Captain’s family is originally from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.
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