IAF helicopter crash: Group Captain Varun Singh cremated with full military honours in Bhopal

Indian Air Force's Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed to his injuries after surviving the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu last week, was given a moving send-off in his hometown Bhopal today.Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended the braveheart's funeral at the Bairagarh crematorium in Bhopal.Earlier, Chouhan had announced that a decision will be taken regarding renaming any institute or installing a statue of him. Additionally, a government job and Rs 1 crore would also be given to the family. Group Captain Varun Singh's mortal remains were airlifted to Bhopal on Thursday following which IAF officials and Madhya Pradesh ministers laid wreaths to pay tribute. When his mortal remains were flown to Bhopal from Bengaluru, thousands lined the streets for 2 km near the airport and his home. The 5km journey from the state hangar to the Singhs’ residence took over an hour and along the way, chants of ‘Varun Singh Amar Rahe’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ rung out loud. Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the IAF helicopter crash that killed 13 people in Coonoor, including Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, passed away on Wednesday, 15 December, after a week-long battle for his life. On 9 December, he was transferred from the Military Hospital in Wellington to the Command Hospital in Bengaluru in critical, but stable condition.Group Captain Singh belonged to Bhopal and graduated from the National Defence Academy in 2003. He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in 2004 and mainly flew Jaguars and Tejas during his flying career. He was an experimental test pilot and was conferred with the Shaurya Chakra on 15 August this year. He was posted to Defence Services Staff College as an instructor when he passed away.He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and many others condoled the demise of Group Captain Singh.Sharing his condolences, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Group Captain Singh "served the nation with pride, valour and utmost professionalism". "His rich service to the nation will never be forgotten," said PM Modi in a tweet.With inputs from agencies