The Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika, and 11 other armed forces officers were killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8.
Gen Bipin Rawat, Madhulika Rawat, Brig LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Wg Cdr PS Chauhan, Sqn Ldr K Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A, Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender
Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar., Lance Naik Sai Teja are among those killed.
"Every effort is being made to save his life," said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as he addressed Lok Sabha.
Where families of those deceased are unconsolable, parents of some are not even informed of their loss.
Here are the gallant officers who were killed in the Tamil Nadu chopper crash along with CDS Bipin Rawat and his wife.
Naik Gursewak Singh
Naik Gursewak Singh was from Dode Village in Patti Tehsil in Tarn Taran District and had been with General Rawat for three years.
The 35-year-old Singh came from a humble family. While his mother had died, his father used to work as a daily wager and had five brothers and two sisters.
Gursewak married around 11 years ago and has two daughters and one son, aged 10, 7, and 4 years.
"We had never imagined this. We still can't believe what happened. He just spoke to us last night, and now he's gone," said Gurbakhsh Singh, the younger sibling of Gursewak.
Gursewak joined the Indian Army in 2000 and was stationed in Udhampur before joining Gen Rawat three years ago. The majority of his Army service was spent in the frontier areas of Jammu
and Kashmir, where there was always a threat to life owing to the insurgency.
He is survived by his wife Jaspreet Kaur, three children.
Naik Jitendra Kumar
Naik Jitendra Kumar hailed from Dhamanda village in Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh. Naik Kumar of 3 Para SF also served as a Personal Security Officer to Gen Rawat.
He joined the army in 2011. His mother has been ill and therefore has not been informed of her son's death.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday paid tributes to Naik Jitendra Kumar and tweeted, “Tribute to Jitendra Kumar ji, son of the soil of Madhya Pradesh.
Son of Sehore also lost his life while discharging his duty in the heart-wrenching helicopter tragedy that took away CDS Bipin Rawat ji. May God grant peace to the departed soul.”
Lance Naik Vivek Kumar
Lance Naik Vivek Kumar hailed from the Jaisinghpur area of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. He was the CDS General Bipin Rawat's main PSO.
29 years old Naik Vivek was the eldest among three siblings and had a five-month-old boy. He wanted to celebrate his son's birthday with great enthusiasm but lost his life in a tragic
chopper crash.
He is survived by his wife and son.
Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan
Born and brought up in Agra, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was flying the helicopter that crashed in Tamil Nadu.
The 42 year old wing commander was posted at the Indian Air Force Station in Coimbatore.
The Agra's brave commander was the only son of his parents and was the youngest among his four siblings.
He is survived by his parents, wife Kamini and daughter Aaradhya (12) and son Aviraj (9).
Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder
Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder hailed from Panchkula, Haryana. He was serving as the Defence Adviser to the CDS Rawat.
He had been on Bipin Rawat's staff for almost a year. Brig Lidder was about to be promoted to the rank of General Officer Commanding a Division.
He is survived by his wife and 16 year old daughter.
Lt Col Harjinder Singh
Lt Col Harjinder Singh served in the same unit as Rawat, the 11 Gorkha Rifles. Lt Col Singh, who was born in Lucknow, served as a Staff Officer to the CDS.
According to reports, Lt Col Singh had been assigned to the Siachen Glacier and had previously served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission.
Havildar Satpal Rai
Hailing from Takdah, Darjeeling, Havildar Satpal Rai was the Personal Security Officer of CDS General Bipin Rawat.
According to reports, the 41 year old Satpal Rai had talked to his family over the phone just before boarding the chopper that crashed, killing all but one.
Lance Naik B Sai Teja
Lance Naik B Sai Teja was the Personal Security Officer (PSO) of CDS Rawat. He was appointed to the role only seven months ago.
The 27-year-old from Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district joined the Indian Army in 2012.