Ooty: Army personnel and Tamilnadu police on Friday felicitated the villagers and estate workers who were the first to reach the spot when the helicopter M1-17V5 carrying Chief of Defence Service (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others crashed at Kateri near Coonoor.
DGP C Sylendra Babu was personally present while felicitating the locals and estate workers who had helped to recover the mortal remains and provided blankets and other clothes to carry the injured to the Wellington Army hospital.
The DGP said, ‘The local people who are workers in tea estates have done a yeoman service by rushing to the place on hearing about the accident. The service of these people have to be recorded and hence we are felicitating them.’
Babu said local residents had informed the police of the helicopter crash soon after it occurred.
He said personnel from the Fire and Rescue Services, as well as the police, reached the spot a few minutes after, and managed to pull three people, who were still alive, from the wreckage.
The top police official added that the police had come to the settlement to express their gratitude to residents who helped in the rescue operations.
He said 26 eyewitnesses to the crash had also been questioned so that the police could piece together the final few moments that preceded the chopper crashing into the hillside.
When asked if there was anything suspicious regarding the incident, he replied that there was no doubt and investigations were underway. ‘The IAF is conducting their investigation and we will share our findings with them,’ the DGP said.