Army, administrative officers and local residents pay their last respects to Major Sanjeev Lather, who was killed in Siliguri Army helicopter crash, at Bhiwani on Friday

Sat Singh

Tribune News Service

Bhiwani, December 2

Major Sanjeev Lather was today cremated with full state honours at his native Budha Khera village of Jind district.Earlier in the day, his mortal remains were brought to his Bhiwani residence in Vidhya Nagar from New Delhi.Major Sanjeev, along with two other Armyofficers, was killed in Siliguri, West Bengal, in an Army helicopter crash on Wednesday.State Cooperation Minister and Rohtak MLA Manish Grover, who were present at the cremation, announced Rs 50 lakh for the family.At Major Sanjeev’s residence in Bhiwani, Mahender Lather, his father, demanded the Centre and the Prime Minister to focus on the maintenance of its Army choppers to avoid such incidents in the future.He said he was proud that his son died while serving the nation.Jagram Mann, father-in-law of the deceased officer, said the tragedy was a result of outdated Cheetah helicopters by the Army.He said Chetak and Cheetah helicopters had claimed 294 lives in 98 mishaps and it was high time the government phased them out.Besides Army officers, naib tehsildar Naresh Kumar and Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijay Deswal reached his residence to pay tributes to the deceased.