The last rites of former Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu, who died in a chopper crash, will be performed on 10th May instead of 11th May as announced earlier.

Buddhist Lamas suggested advancement of the date by a day after going through the scriptures and performing rituals at Tawang, Jambey Tsering, PRO to Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin said.

He said Khandu would be cremated in accordance with the Monpa tradition of Buddhism in his native village at Gyangkhar near Tawang and till then the lamas will perform prayers for eternal peace of his departed soul.

Khandu along with four others died in a helicopter crash on 30th April and their bodies were recovered at Keyla, near Luguthang, only on 4th May last.

The mortal remains of Khandu were brought to Itanagar en route Tawang the next day and kept in his official bungalow before being flown back to Tawang.

The newly-appointed chief minister, his cabinet colleagues and all legislators would attend Khandu’s funeral.

3-member committee to probe Arunachal CM’s chopper crash

The Civil Aviation Ministry has set up an inquiry committee to probe the circumstances under which the Pawan Hans chopper crashed killing Arunchal Pradesh CM Dorjee Khandu and four others on Saturday.

“A Committee of Inquiry headed by Air Marshal (Retd) P S Ahluwalia has been appointed to look into the circumstances of the accident of the helicopter near Labootang, Arunachal Pradesh, on April 30 while going from Tawang to Itanagar,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a release on Thursday.

The 3-member committee has been asked to submit its report in three months.

Ahluwalia, with an experience of over forty years in the IAF, retired as the head of Western Air Command’s chief in 2008.

The other two members of the inquiry team are Group Captain (retd) T V Unnikrishnan and P K Chattopadhyay. Senior Air Safety Officer A K Joseph will be the Secretary of the committee.

The committee will investigate and determine the cause and contributory factors leading to the accident and make recommendations to avoid recurrence of such incidents, it added.

The committee has been asked to take assistance from other experts and agencies, if required, it said.

The copter carrying Khandu and four others had gone missing on Saturday and crashed in bad weather in the mountains and their bodies and the wreckage were located on Wednesday.