Former CM Vijay Rupani’s body identified after DNA test; 1-day state mourning announced

Rupani, 68, was among the 242 people on board the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick that crashed around 1.38 pm on June 12 near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, seconds after take-off. Rupani was to join his daughter Radhika and other family members for a religious event.

Speaking at the mortuary complex of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Health Minister Patel said, “The DNA cross-verification of former chief minister Vijay Rupani has been completed. As soon as he received this news, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel met Rupaniji’s family at their residence in Gandhinagar and assured them of all help in bringing his mortal remains and during his final rites.”

The family will be handed over his mortal remains on Monday morning. It will then be taken to Rajkot by air for the final rites. The mortal remains will be taken to his residence in Rajkot where it will be kept for an hour. The funeral procession will start from his residence at 5 pm and the final rites will be held at Ramnath Para crematorium.

Three prayer meetings in Rajkot and Gandhinagar have also been scheduled for this week. While the first prayer meeting will be held at Race Course Maidan in Rajkot on Tuesday, a prayer meeting will be held at the Exhibition Centre of Helipad Ground in Gandhinagar on Thursday. The Gujarat BJP will hold a prayer meeting on Friday at its state headquarters ‘Shree Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar to pay tributes to Rupani and the others victims of the plane crash.