Khandu’s body flown to Itanagar

May 06, 2011 - MANOJ ANAND |

Age Correspondent

GUWAHATI

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and others

The body of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, who was killed in a helicopter crash along with four others on Saturday, was flown to state capital Itanagar on Thursday.
The mortal remain of late chief minister was flown to Itanagar from Tawang in an Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force. The council of ministers, legislators and large number of civilians were present to receive the body which reached capital city at about 1.15 pm.
The family members of late chief minister and several top politicians of the state, including Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjay, accompanied the body. Governor J.J. Singh was among others who paid his last respects to the late chief minister at the helipad in the Raj Bhawan campus of the capital.
The body was taken to the chief minister’s official residence in a flower-decked open vehicle as people lined up the streets to catch a last glimpse of their beloved leader. The body will be kept at his official residence till Friday, before being flown back to Tawang for cremation at Khandu’s native village according to Buddhist rituals.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to fly down to Itanagar to pay their last respects on Friday. Meanwhile, state PCC chief and minister Nabam Tuki said that body of chief minister and four others could be retrieved from the crash site only on Thursday morning. All the five bodies were retrieved from the crash site located near the Sela Pass, at about 13,700 feet altitude on Thursday morning.
“The bodies of the two pilots are charred beyond recognition and it would probably require DNA test to identify them, while the chief minister’s body bore injuries but was not charred,” Mr Kiren Rijiju, adviser to the chief minister, said.
The bodies of the two pilots were flown to New Delhi, while the bodies of one woman and the personal security officer would be cremated at Tawang.

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