A pall of gloom descended upon the South Block and the residence of Gen Bipin Rawat in New Delhi as soon as the news started trickling a little after 12 noon about the MI17V5 chopper, which crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu with the Chief of Defence Staff, his wife, Madhulika Rawat, and others.
The Chief of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh soon after preliminary reports about the mishap reached New Delhi. Singh had a series of meetings with senior officials of the Ministry of Defence. He also instructed Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary to fly to the IAF station at Sulur in Tamil Nadu and visit the scene of the crash.
The senior officials of the Ministry of Defence as well as the Indian Army and the IAF were in touch with the State Government of Tamil Nadu and the local administration in Nilgiris to coordinate the rescue operation.
Though all at the Ministry of Defence in the South Block was hoping for a miracle, they soon received the confirmation that Gen Rawat, his wife and 11 others had died in the crash and the IAF’s Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor, was battling for life in the hospital. The Defence Minister, who had already briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the mishap, spoke to him again and broke the sad news.
The Defence Minister then drove to Gen Rawat’s official residence, which was already cordoned off to keep the media persons away.
He spent a few minutes with the family and friends of the Chief of Defence Staff and officially confirmed the tragic news about the death of the couple.
Soon after he left Gen Rawat’s residence, the IAF tweeted confirming that the CDS, his wife and 11 others died in the crash.
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