NEW DELHI/BHOPAL: Lt Colonel Harjinder Singh and Naik Jitender Kumar Verma, who were among the 13 killed in a helicopter crash last week with CDS General Bipin Rawat, were cremated with full military honours on Sunday. Singh’s cremation took place at Brar Square in the national capital, while Verma was consigned to flames in his native village Dhamanda in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the chiefs of the armed forces laid wreaths on the remains of Lt Col Singh. He is survived by wife Maj Agnes P Manezes (retd) and daughter Preet Kaur, who performed the last rites. Lt Colonel Singh was commissioned into the army in 2001.
He served as Staff Officer to the CDS and belonged to 11 Gorkha Rifles. He served at the Line of Actual Control as well as at Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Verma was a Special Forces sniper who was PSO to General Rawat. His remains were brought on a army truck from Bhopal to his village. Huge crowds lined up on the road to bid adieu to the braveheart.
CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was in Dhamanda and met the bereaved family. Chouhan announced Rs 1 crore for the family and said the village school would be named after Verma.