Amid heavy security deployed at the residence of India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, at Kumarasami Kamraj Marg in New Delhi, several VVIPs arrived to offer their condolences to the bereaved family.
In a tragic incident earlier on Wednesday, General Rawat (63), his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 others were killed after the IAF chopper they were travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.
General Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat are survived by their two daughters -- Kritika and Tarini.
After Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Indian Army chief M.M. Naravane visited the residence of General Rawat on Wednesday evening. Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar also met the bereaved family to offer his condolences over the tragic incident.
Security was beefed up in and around the residence of General Rawat, with only a select few allowed entry into the house.
Rawat's family has been serving the Indian Army for four generations. His father Laxman Singh Rawat had served the Indian Army, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General.
His wife, Madhulika, was the President of the Army Wives' Welfare Association (AWWA). The AWWA is one of the largest NGOs working towards ensuring the welfare of wives, children, and dependents of Army personnel.
Madhulika worked for the welfare of Army widows, differently-abled children, cancer patients, and dependents of Army personnel.
Soon after the IAF confirmed the death of Gen Rawat, the Defence Minister tweeted: "Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country".
He is likely to make a statement in Parliament on the matter on Thursday.
Gen Rawat was on a visit to the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri to address the faculty and student officers.
General Rawat, along with his wife and seven staff, boarded a flight at Delhi for the Sulur IAF base near Coimbatore at 8.47 a.m, landed in Sulur at 11.34 a.m., and boarded the Mi17V5 helicopter at 11:48. At 12.22 pm, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) lost contact with the chopper, which crashed in a forest area around 7 km from Coonoor.
