GC Varun Singh intended to visit Indore to celebrate Shaurya Chakra honour: Report

IAF Group Captain Varun Singh’s body reached his hometown in Bhopal on Thursday, wrapped in Tricolour, to bid a final goodbye to his country, his homeland. The Shaurya Chakra awardee will be cremated on Friday with full state honours at the place where he had made all good memories.

An acquaintance of the Group Captain informed PTI that Varun Singh had a deep attachment to his homeland and had planned to visit Indore this month itself to celebrate his Shaurya Chakra honour.

‘He planned to visit Indore this month to celebrate his Shaurya Chakra’

The soldier pilot wanted to celebrate his Shaurya Chakra achievement, India’s third-highest peacetime gallantry award, in Indore, however, his wish remained unfulfilled as the braveheart succumbed to the injuries from the tragic crash on Wednesday. Group Captain Varun Singh was awarded the Shaurya Chakra, India's third-highest peacetime gallantry medal, in August this year for preventing a possible mid-air accident from happening, as he safely landed his Tejas light combat aircraft which was hit by a significant technical glitch last year.

According to Daljit Singh Gurudatta (70), a neighbour of his father's, 'Every year, GC Varun Singh would pay a visit to his wife Geetanjali's parents in Indore. He was supposed to visit Indore at the end of December to give a reception to celebrate the Shaurya Chakra accolade. He married Geetanjali in Indore on January 20, 2008, he had first met her while she was studying in a Pune college.' The couple has a son and a daughter.

"But, as fate would have it, he was on board the ill-fated chopper (that crashed last week) as the liaison officer for the visit of Gen Rawat to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington. The officer used to visit his parents in Bhopal and he last came here on Diwali. He loved Bhopal" Gurudutta said.

“I had all hopes that Varun would come out triumphant. We had planned to give him a rousing welcome. I don't have words to describe the pain and loss his death has caused. Varun was a very friendly and cheerful person. He had the zeal to do best in life and had a tremendous fighting spirit," his father's neighbour Lieutenant Colonel Ishan R (retired) said.

Madhya Pradesh CM announces Rs 1 crore financial assistance to Group Captain’s kin

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Thursday that the state government will provide a one-crore 'Samman Nidhi' to the martyred officer's family. On Wednesday, the distinguished air warrior died in Bengaluru, a week after he was critically injured in a chopper crash near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 other armed forces personnel.

Image: Twitter/ DDNews/ PBNS