Rajnath salutes IAF personnel, meets families
Jorhat/ NEW DELHI: Wing Commander G M Charles, who piloted the AN-32 aircraft which crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on June 3, was cremated with full military honours in the presence of senior officials of the Indian Air Force and district administration here on Friday.
Charles, survived by his wife and eight-year old daughter, was cremated at the Garmur Crematorium and his funeral pyre was lit by his batchmate Rakesh.
The Wing Commander, who hailed from Pune, had lost his parents at an early age and his immediate family members present at Jorhat decided to cremate him here.
Station head of IAF Station at Jorhat Air Commodore S K Verma, Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Roshni Korati, Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Nimbalkar and senior Indian Air Force and army officers were present at the crematorium and laid wreaths on the air warrior while four rounds of gun salute were also fired to honour him.
The Wing Commander and 12 other IAF personnel were killed when the AN-32 aircraft in which they were flying to Mechuka from Jorhat Air Force station crashed near Mechuka along Indo-China border on June three last.
The mortal remains of the 12 other IAF personnel were flown to New Delhi on Thursday night.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday paid tributes to five of the 13 IAF personnel who died in the AN-32 crash.
The minister laid wreaths on the coffins wrapped in Tricolour at the technical area of the Palam airport and met the distraught family members.
“Paid tributes to brave air-warriors who lost their lives in the unfortunate AN-32 crash,” he tweeted.
“They served the nation with confidence and courage. I salute their sacrifice in the line of duty.
“Met with the families and friends of the deceased and shared my grief and heartfelt condolences with them.
“My thoughts and prayers are with them. May God give them strength to bear this monumental loss,” the minister said. (Agencies)