Just two days after the tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force has issued a statement over "uninformed speculations" around the accident. The defence wing
further stated that an inquiry is underway and facts will be brought out soon.
It further urged people to “respect the dignity of the deceased.”
“IAF has constituted a tri-service Court of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the tragic helicopter accident on 08 Dec 21. The inquiry would be completed expeditiously & facts
brought out. Till then, to respect the dignity of the deceased, uninformed speculation may be avoided,” read a tweet by an official Indian Air Force account.
The tri-service inquiry will be led by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command.
The statement by IAF comes as several conspiracy theories surfaced. On Thursday, Retired Brigadier Sudhir Sawant has alleged a big terrorist conspiracy behind the CDS chopper crash.
He alleged that “there is a possibility that LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) sleeper cells are behind the tragic accident.”
"There has also been a lot of support for the LTTE among the locals here. In such a case, there is a strong chance that the CDS chopper crash was the result of a conspiracy attack involving
LTTE sleeper cells. If LTTE is behind the attack, then there is a possibility of ISI being involved,” said retd brig Sawant.
Meanwhile Chellaney, a Delhi-based author and commentator alleged China conspired the crash to kill India's tri-service chief Bipin Rawat.
He had tweeted: "At a time when China's 20-month-long border aggression has resulted in a warlike situation along the Himalayan front, the tragic death of India's chief
of defence
staff, Gen. Rawat, his wife and 11 other military personnel in a helicopter crash couldn't have come at a worse time."
"General Rawat's death has an eerie parallel with the helicopter crash in early 2020 that killed Taiwan`s chief of general staff, Gen. Shen Yi-ming, and seven others, including
two major generals. Each helicopter crash eliminated a key figure in the defence against PRC`s aggression," another tweet read.
Meanwhile, China has slammed the allegations. Today responding to allegations, Chinese state media said "The crash of a helicopter with General Bipin Rawat, India's highest-ranking
military officer, on board was unfortunate. But Brahma Chellaney, a so-called scholar in India, took advantage of this misfortune, despicably, by attempting to cause new tensions in China-India ties,"
A report by Global Times further stated that "Chellaney's thread cannot be more ridiculous. Rawat was not on a Chinese aircraft. The helicopter did not crash anywhere near the China-India
border but in southern India. Chellaney, however, wasted no time in spinning his conspiracy theory".
On Wednesday, December 8, Indian Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 personnel were killed when an army chopper crashed near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor.
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.
IAF Group Captain Varun Singh is the lone survivor of crash and is being treated for severe burn injuries.