Background On 13 November 1997, Somu toured
Arunachal Pradesh's
areas bordering China as part of a two-day official visit to the
northeastern States. The next day (November 14), he was scheduled to address the
Indian Army's senior officials, including the
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC) of the
IV Corps at
Tezpur,
Assam.
The crash On November 14 morning, after a telephone conversation with his wife, Somu boarded a
Cheetah helicopter stationed north of Mago village, Lungar Sector in
Tawang district. He was accompanied by
Major General Ramesh Chandra Nagpal (GoC of the Four Mountain Division). The helicopter (driven by pilot majors PK Agarwal and PC Sharma) took off at around 9:00 am
IST. Shortly afterwards, at 9:10 am, radio contact with the helicopter was lost. Around 9:20 am, the helicopter crashed at a nearby remote area at an altitude of more than 4000 metres, killing all four occupants. Five army choppers, sent to rescue probable survivors, could only locate the wreckage with the bodies at 12:10 pm. Official sources said the crash was apparently caused due to poor visibility caused by mist in the early hours.
Condolences •
President K. R. Narayanan praised Somu as "a diligent and conscientious member of the council of ministers and an able parliamentarian", adding that his demise removed "a personality of prominence and great promise to the country". • Prime Minister
I. K. Gujral, on hearing the news, cancelled his scheduled two-day visit to Bombay, where he was to commission the warship
INS Delhi (D61). He called Karunanidhi to convey his condolences to Somu's family. Praising Somu as "a warm and gentle person" in his condolence message, Gujral added “His views were always constructive and were expressed in the larger interest of the country. I shall miss his wise counsel in the Council of Ministers.” • Defence Minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav described Somu as an honest and upright minister whose untimely death was an irreparable loss to the DMK and the
United Front government. •
Lok Sabha Speaker P. A. Sangma said that he had lost "a valued friend and parliamentary colleague" and that the country "a young administrator of considerable promise". •
Atal Behari Vajpayee (former PM) said "the tragic death of NVN Somu is a loss for which we will all grieve". • The central secretariat of the
Communist Party of India (CPI) expressed its "deep shock and sorrow" at Somu's death. •
Karunanidhi said that the service rendered by Somu “as the artery of the Dravidian movement" could not be forgotten. He added "[Somu] was the personification of love and compassion, a model of simplicity and he moved with everyone with brotherly affection. Death had suddenly engulfed such a kind-hearted person.
Funeral Somu's body was taken to Tezpur for embalming. It was then taken to Madras and was
laid in state at Somu's house in
Purasawalkam. The funeral was attended by Gujral, his wife
Sheila Gujral, Vajpayee, Mulayam Singh,
G. K. Moopanar, and Karunanidhi. The chiefs of the three uniformed services were present, along with other senior officers and "thousands" of people. The body was cremated at Brick Kiln Road cremation ground, following last rites by Somu's son Thirumaran, and the army's
21-gun salute succeeded by
reversed arms. After that, Army
buglers sounded the
Last Post.
Aftermath An obituary reference to Somu was made in the
Lok Sabha on 19 November by Sangma. == Family ==