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TNS Explainer: Who filmed the final moments of Bipin Rawat's chopper crash and how TN police are probing it?

By alagu, 11 December, 2021
Bipin Rawat, Chopper Crash, Nilgiris, Tamilnadu

The mortal remains of India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat were cremated in Delhi on Friday amid the nationwide mourning and attention. 63-year-old Rawat was a four-star general in the Indian Army and was killed in the military chopper crash on Wednesday - December 8 in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. He was en route to Defence Service Staff College in Wellington, Nilgiris along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and top army officials.

Minutes ahead of the landing, the Mi-17V5 chopper that was operated by the Indian Air Force, was crashed with 14 people on board due to foggy weather and hit the ground. The chopper was completely charred while 13 of the 14 people including Bipin Rawat and his wife had died in the crash while a sole survivor has been getting treated in Bengaluru. The bodies of the deceased were brought to Delhi and were cremated with full state honours on Friday. The Indian Air Force has ordered an inquiry into the accident and a video that was filmed before the crash has become a piece of vital evidence in the investigation.

The video had filmed the final moments of the chopper and was going viral on social media and it had shown the chopper flying in the midst of mist. The video has been submitted to the inquiry team for further investigation. According to reports, the video was filmed by 52-year-old Joe alias Kutty and he took it when he was on his way to Ooty. Joe is a photographer from Ramanathapuram and he was accompanied by his friend Nazar and they were on their trip to Ooty. 

The video had shown the chopper flying and whirring against the foggy weather and in the next few seconds, there was a loud noise and the sound of the chopper was nowhere to be heard. In the video, the people can be seen asking whether the chopper was crashed. Joe had taken the video on his mobile phone and he then met Coimbatore Police Commissioner Pradip Kumar at his chamber on Friday and briefed him about the video that he filmed seconds before the chopper was crashed. 

Joe has said he had joined Nazar and family on their trip to Ooty on Wednesday. According to the Times of India, he said, "We reached the mountain train track near Katteri in the afternoon and started taking photos and videos. When I heard the sound of the chopper, I started recording the video. The chopper was flying steadily and disappeared into the mist and within a few seconds, we heard a loud bang and thought the chopper was crashed." Nazar has added that their video is one of the main pieces of evidence for the chopper crash investigation. 

The city police commissioner has said that two had met him at his office and furnished their address and mobile numbers and the same have been forwarded to the Nilgiris district police. While the Indian Air Force is conducting the probe, the Tamil Nadu police have also been investigating the accident and a day after the crash, Tamil Nadu DGP Sylendra Babu had held a closed-door meeting with the Nilgiris district police officers, forensic experts, and other personnel on the investigation to ascertain the reason for the crash. 

On Thursday, a special investigation team, led by Nilgiris ADSP Muthumanickam, was formed to investigate the crash and the reports say that the probing team of the Tamil Nadu police had questioned 26 witnesses as of Friday including local residents and the tourists. The officials had also deployed drones to check for more evidence at the crash site. Bipin Rawat was travelling to deliver a lecture at the Defense Service Staff College and his loss as the Chief of Defence Staff had saddened the country and become irreplaceable for the defence ecosystem. 

 

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