NEW DELHI, 8 December 2021, (TON): The deaths of Indian Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wifem Mrs Madhulika Rawat alongwith 11 other military personnel was confirmed by Airforce authorities. It was also revealed that Gp Captain Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington.
The Airforce authorities issued tweets, "Around noon today, an IAF Mi 17 V5 helicopter with a crew of 4 members carrying the CDS and 9 other passengers met with a tragic accident near Coonoor, TN."
General Bipin Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today.
Rajnath Singh issued a statement, "Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country".

Rajnath Singh confirming the death of CDS General Bipin Rawat was the highest-serving official in the Indian armed forces, who was appointed to the newly created post of CDS, a day before he was set to retire as the army chief on December 31, 2019. As part of his new assignment, General Rawat was heading the new Department of Military Affairs in the Defence Ministry.