Dorjee Khandu body brought to Itanagar, last rites today

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Itanagar: The bodies of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were on Thursday airlifted by the Army to Tawang from Keyla, where the helicopter with the five on board had crashed last Saturday.

The bodies were first brought to Luguthang and then airlifted to Tawang by an Army helicopter.

Later, the body of Dorjee Khandu was brought to Itanagar in an IAF helicopter.

The body will be kept at his official bungalow till Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives tomorrow to pay homage to the departed soul.

The MI-17 helicopter carrying Khandu's body was accompanied by another MI-17 chopper and a helicopter from Guwahati carrying Minister of State in PMO V. Narayanswamy, Union Ministers Mukul Wasnik and Salman Khursheed, and Khandu's elder brother Goleng Khandu.

Khandu's body will be taken back to Tawang for the last rites.

Last rites of Khandu at Gyangkhar village

The last rites of Arunchal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu will be performed in his native village, Gyangkhar, in Tawang district as per Monpa Buddhist traditions.

According to traditional practice, lamas usually prescribe the procedures for the last rites on the basis of good or bad deeds of a deceased, a close aide of Mr. Khandu and Sahitya Akademi awardee Yeshi Dorjee Thongchi, said.



The body of India’s northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu, is brought for people to pay last respects at Itanagar on May 5. (AP Photo) ITANAGAR, MAY 5:  Six days after the helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu crashed, the bodies of the five victims
were retrieved on Thursday from the snow-capped tortuous mountainous terrain even as a pall of gloom enveloped this frontier state. About 200-odd local tribal people and security personnel brought the five bodies to Tawang, traversing hostile terrain with snow of up to three-five feet, besides intermittent drizzle.

Finally, a Mi-17 helicopter flew the coffin carrying the body of the 56-year-old chief minister to state capital Itanagar around 1pm as thousands of people patiently lined up on either side of the road leading from the helipad to Khandu’s official residence. The mood was sombre as thousands filed past the coffin at the chief minister’s residence.

“Ever since Arunachal Pradesh became a full fledged state, I have no doubts in my mind Dorjee Khandu is the best chief minister so far. By best I mean a chief minister who would go down in history as one who brought about visible development and ushered political stability to the state,” said Jarbom Gamlin, state power minister.

Khandu’s body bore injury marks on his head and face, although it was not charred. “Probably the injury was due to the impact of the crash, maybe the helicopter body hit his head during the crash. But there were no visible signs of any burn injuries as such,” the chief minister’s adviser Kiren Rijiju said. The other four bodies were in bad shape - they include the two pilots Captain JS Babbar and Captain TS Mamik, Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Choddak, and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup.

“The worst were the bodies of the two pilots - both of them charred beyond recognition and probably it might require some medical tests for identification,” Rijiju said. The bodies of the two pilots were flown to New Delhi on Thursday. Captain Mamik hails from Dehradun. Witnesses said the chopper probably plunged from a great height and as it plummeted down the rugged mountain slope it burst into flames.

“The wreckage of the helicopter was strewn all over the area with signs of a black coating over the metallic pieces due to the fire that engulfed the chopper soon after it crashed,” a person who identified himself as Pema and is a local yak herder who saw the crash site said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi will reach Itanagar on Friday to pay their tributes to Khandu.

The body of Khandu would be flown to Tawang on Friday for his last rites as per Buddhist rituals. Khandu’s ancestral home is in Tawang district. Khandu’s four wives and six children would accompany the coffin to Tawang on Friday. Meanwhile, all indications are that state urban development minister and president of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Nabam Tuki would be sworn in as chief minister in the next couple of days. Arunachal Power Minister to be the new CM Itanagar, MAY 5 (AGENCIES): After Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu’s death in a chopper crash, state Power Minister Jarbom Gamlin will be sworn in as the new chief minister. Mr Gamlin was said to be a close to Mr Khandu. According to some reports the swearing in of the new chief minister was likely to take place by tonight, as Congress legislators in a resolution on Thursday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to choose a successor to Dorjee Khandu. Raj Bhawan PRO Atum Potom said “There is every possibility of the swearing-in tonight.”

Other front-runners in the race were Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and PWD minister Nabam Tuki, finance minister Setong Sena and RWD Minister Kalikho Pul, party sources said. Congress legislators were interviewed individually by top leaders, including union ministers Handique, V
Narayansamy, Mukul Wasnik and Salman Khursheed. Later, a single line resolution by the CLP was faxed to the Congress president.

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