Last rites of IAF pilot performed in Pali

JAIPUR: The mortal remains of Flight Lieutenant Rishi Raj Singh, who died in a crash of a Jaguar fighter plane during a routine sortie near Churu in Rajasthan, were consigned to flames at his ancestral village in the state’s Pali district on Thursday evening amid full military honours and slogans.

- Agencies

Twenty-three-year-old Singh was one of the two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots who were killed in the crash on Wednesday. He was flying with Squadron Leader Lokendra Singh Sindhu, who hailed from Kheri Sadh village in Haryana’s Rohtak.

Singh's mortal remains first reached Jodhpur Air Force station from Suratgarh on Thursday afternoon. Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat offered floral tributes at the Air Force station.

From Jodhpur, the mortal remains were taken to Sirohi by a helicopter and then to his village by road, where the entire Khivandi village including family members, relatives, Air Force officers and administrative officials gathered in solemn grief to receive him for the final rites.