The mortal remains of Lance Naik Sai Teja (27), who among the 14 defence staff killed in a helicopter crash in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu last week, was laid to rest amidst military honor at his native village Eguva Regadapalle of Kurabalakota mandal near Madanapalle, on Sunday evening. The deceased Lance Naik who belongs to the 2012 batch was the personal security officer to former Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat who was among the killed in the crash.
Escorted by defence personnel, the chest containing the remains of Sai Teja was brought to the village by road in a special vehicle from the IAF basecamp in Bengaluru, decorated with garlands and tricolor. A large number of youth from several parts of the Madanapalle division had reached the Madanapalle outskirts in advance and paid tributes to the remains before it entered Chittoor district from the Karnataka border. For a distance of 23 kilometers, slogans of “Sai Teja Amar Rahe” rented the air. Thousands of people joined the funeral procession from Madanapalle to Eguva Regadapalle village.
At a specially erected ground, the funeral arrangements were made on a war-footing. Amidst the presence of military officers from Chennai, Superintendents of Police S. Senthil Kumar (Chittoor) and Venkata Appala Naidu (Tirupati) paid tributes to Sai Teja. Heartrending moments prevailed in the village with the presence of grief-stricken family members of the martyred Jawan. His wife, Ms. Shyamala, on seeing her husband’s remains had swooned for a while and was later guided to the burial spot by the family members. The military and police officials consoled them during brief spells. Local leaders of various political parties from Madanapalle region thronged the village to pay their last respects to Sai Teja. In the evening, the chest was lowered into the grave by the defence personnel, followed by the military funeral honours.
