The State of Uttarakhand has declared a three-day state mourning over the demise of Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat who passed away in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

“There is a wave of mourning all over India due to the demise of Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat ji. The Uttarakhand government has announced three days state mourning in the state while paying homage to the virtuous souls,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on Twitter and declared the state mourning from December 9 to 12.

“During this, the national flag will remain half-masted on all government buildings and no government function will be organised,” he further said. In his condolence message he termed Rawat’s death as an “irreparable loss” for Uttarakhand and India.

Watch | CDS General Rawat dies in IAF helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu

India’s first CDS General Bipin Rawat (63), his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri Hills on Wednesday afternoon.

Gen Rawat, who was appointed as CDS in January 2019, was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the staff course. He belonged to Saina village of Pauri district in Uttarakhand.

The Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat was born in March 1958. As an alumnus of National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, Rawat was commissioned to the fifth Bn (battalion) and the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Indian army in December 1978 and was appointed as CDS in 2019.

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