CDS Gen Rawat's demise: Army Staff's Vice Chief shortens Qatar visit to rush back to Delhi

In the aftermath of the tragic demise of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday, Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty cut short his visit to Qatar to head back to Delhi. The Ministry of Defence informed that the Army Vice Chief had proceeded on his two-day visit to the GCC nation on December 8.

In the scheduled visit, VCOAS Mohanty was to advance the defence cooperation between the State of Qatar and India through multiple meetings with senior functionaries of the Qatari defence establishment.

CDS General Bipin Rawat passes away in helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu

CDS General Bipin Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and 11 others died in an IAF helicopter crash when the 63-year-old Rawat along with his wife and staff was travelling to Wellington Staff College to deliver a lecture at 2:45 PM. All communications with the IAF Mi-17V5 chopper were lost just minutes before the tragic crash that happened between near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. In fact, reports suggest that the crash took place only 10 minutes away from the destination - Wellington.

It was brought to the fore by official sources that the Chief of Defence Staff departed the Palam airbase in an IAF Embraer aircraft at 8.47 a.m. and landed at Sulur airbase at 11.34 a.m. Later, he took off from Sulur in a Mi-17V5 chopper at around 11.50 a.m. for Wellington. The helicopter crashed at approximately 12.22 p.m. In 2015, late CDS Rawat had survived a helicopter crash while he was commuting with a Lieutenant General.

Lone survivor - Wing Commander Varun Singh

Apart from the CDS, others on board included the CDS' wife Madhulika Rawat, Defence Assistant to CDS Brigadier LS Lidder, SO to CDS Lt. Col. Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Havaldar Satpal. The lone survivor, Wing Commander Varun Singh, is currently battling for his life at a military hospital in Wellington.

The mortal remains of all those who lost their lives will be brought to Delhi on December 10. The Indian Air Force has initiated an inquiry into the crash and is searching for the black box of the chopper.