CDS Rawat was on-board crashed chopper, confirms IAF; orders inquiry

Chennai, Dec 8: The Indian Air Force on Wednesday confirmed that Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat was on- board an IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter that met with an accident earlier today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.

The IAF has ordered an inquiry into the accident.

“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident,” tweeted IAF.

According to sources, along with CDS Rawat, his staff and some family members were also on-board the chopper that crashed between Coimbatore and Sulur in Tamil Nadu.

Search and rescue operations are underway, said sources.

Four bodies have been recovered and three injured persons rescued from the helicopter crash site, PTI reported quoting official sources.

Rawat is India’s first chief of defence staff, a position that the Indian government established in 2019, and is seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rawat comes from a military family with several generations having served in the Indian armed forces.

The general, who has four decades of service behind him, has commanded forces in Indian-administered Kashmir and along the Line of Actual Control bordering China.

He is credited with reducing insurgency on India’s northeastern frontier and supervised a cross-border counter-insurgency operation into neighbouring Myanmar.

-ANI