August 3 Rudra Chopper crash: Pilot Lt Col Bath cremated with full military honours in Amritsar

The officer was one of the two pilots of the helicopter; his body had retrieved from the dam on Sunday, twelve days after the crash

Amritsar The mortal remains of lieutenant colonel Abheet Singh Bath, who died after the army’s Rudra helicopter crashed into the Ranjit Sagar Dam in Jammu on August 3, were consigned to flames with full military honours in Amritsar on Tuesday.

Army officers carrying Lt Colonel Bath’s body to his house in Amritsar on Tuesday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Abheet was one of the two pilots of the helicopter; his body had retrieved from the dam on Sunday, twelve days after the crash.

His body reached his home in Adarsh Nagar about 11am and was taken to Shaheedan cremation ground in the afternoon. His pyre was lit by his son, Ahan Singh, after the jawans gave him a guard of honour.

Officers of the army and the district administration were present. The fallen soldier is survived by his mother Balwinder Kaur, wife Sukhpreet Kaur and son.

Abheet was born and brought up in Amritsar and joined the Indian army after completing his education from Amritsar’s Khalsa college. He had been deployed in Pathankot’s Mamoon Cant. Abheet’s father Sarabjit Singh Bath, who died a few years ago, had also served in the army.

The Rudra helicopter crashed into the dam lake near Pathankot about 10.43 am. Built at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the chopper was carrying out a training sortie that involved low-level flying over the lake.

The helicopter belonged to Army’s Pathankot-based 254 ALH-WSI squadron that had lost a Rudra chopper in January 2021 as well.